


Garage Kids

by EpsilonTarantula



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Garage Kids Pilot, Blood and Violence, Dark, F/M, Mystery, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 112,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25046056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpsilonTarantula/pseuds/EpsilonTarantula
Summary: Odd Della Robbia is the new kid at his school, but soon learns about how his new friends have uncovered a parallel virtual world known as Xanadu. Obtaining a set of strange abilities, the kids now must penetrate the secrets of Xanadu, whose disturbances threaten to destroy the real world.
Relationships: Odd Della Robbia/Samantha Knight, Yumi Ishiyama/Ulrich Stern
Comments: 12
Kudos: 14





	1. Here We Are

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings people of AO3, I come to you with my next work...
> 
> For you fans of Code Lyoko, the name of "Garage Kids" should seem VERY familiar. After all, it was the original title of the show all the way back in 2001, meant to tell the story of children living in a cyberpunk-influenced world discovering a virtual world at its center and the resulting fight that blurred the line between what was real and what was not...
> 
> A concept that was immediately watered down by executives fearing that children would hurt themselves (And according to my friend Donjusticia, a moot point since the regular combat EASILY got kids wanting to replicate the fights anyway), and believing that a continuous storyline would not be profitable (Which...okay I'll give it to them. There's a reason TTG consumed Cartoon Network. Most of the other shows up have long storylines so they need SOMETHING to give a money bulk. Still though...). The budget was slashed, the writers were noted to not have much ambition, and one of the co-creators flatout LEFT due to the conditions in question.
> 
> As such, we are left with an unknown world that only has five minutes and twenty seconds to its name...a world that seems to have been left mostly untapped...
> 
> But that is the power of fanfiction, is it not? The power to explore this kind of world. As such, allow me to welcome you all to Garage Kids, and what might've been...
> 
> I won't lie that this story will get rather dark very fast. The first few chapters might not seem so bad...but trust me when I say things will get heavier later on. No specific warnings will be given, but do keep on the lookout for them.
> 
> And with that...let us begin...

* * *

_Garage Kids_

File 1 – Here We Are

As drops of rain fell from the heavy dark clouds to the ground, several bolts of lightning flashed through the sky, signifying to everyone that it was indeed a dark and stormy night. If the residents of Boulogne-Billancourt didn't want to be soaked to the bone, then they would have to stay in their cozy, dry homes.

Or in the case of a few students of Kadic Academy who had snuck out of their dorms to watch movies, that they should stay in their secret underpass until the storm had passed. 

Things would have turned much differently however, if they had stayed in their dorms to begin with, because in the room of one of the students who had snuck out, something very strange and disturbing was happening.

Before the abnormality happened, the student's room was fairly simple and tidy. The bed was made, and a few books and computer magazines were neatly stacked on his dresser. A computer took up most of the space on the student's desk that was right next to the bed. Everything was peaceful, quiet, and orderly.

However, when another flash of lightning consumed the city with its light, the computer somehow seemed to turn itself on, and a black silhouette of something that, from a distance, might look something like the Space Needle in Seattle, appeared on the now white screen, flickering every now and then.

But this wasn't the Space Needle in Seattle at all, especially if one took the time to examine the silhouette more closely. It was something more...for lack of a better term...ominous. The screen remained on, with the dark silhouette flickering amongst the white background, and black shadows began to leak out of the screen like that of crimson blood... black, oozing blood...

The darkness pooled onto the floor and began to crawl up the walls of the student's room before phasing out of the room like ghosts, spreading out over the city, hidden from view by the dark rain clouds…

* * *

_"Flight 234, from Italy, now landing."_

The large jumbo jet started to descend towards its destination: Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Slowing down as it landed, it completed its journey onto the runway without too much trouble, reaching the terminal safely for passengers to properly depart the craft, which they quickly proceeded to do. Crowding down and exiting the tunnel, they entered the facility’s main building.

Some of these passengers were here to visit relatives. Others had come because of business, and even more were there on vacation, hoping to tour the city, either to see what sights remained after the Panic, to see the aftermath thanks to morbid interest, or perhaps see what new developments had taken place. However, there was one passenger in particular who was there for a very important mission...

He was a kid clothed with a purple shirt and purple pants, with blond hair put up in a single large spike and a purple spot smack dab in the middle of it. He was there because he had been sent to a boarding school located in one of the Paris suburbs, Boulogne-Billancourt...and he was heading for the pick-up area to retrieve his dog.

The name of this twelve-year-old child was Odd Della-Robbia, a sly and joking sort of kid who was easy to make friends with.

But again, right now, he was heading for the pick-up area to get his dog, Kiwi, whom he had brought with him to his new school. It had taken an enormous amount of convincing (i.e. begging) and haggling to convince his family to allow Odd to bring Kiwi with him, and thus to get the paperwork from Kadic Academy that they would even let Odd bring Kiwi in the first place, and finally, convincing them to allow their son to attend boarding school at all.

But for Odd, it had all been very much worth it as he reached the pick-up and began looking for his dog.

"Kiwi?" He called out to the pick-up area, searching for his canine's travel kennel.

"Ruff, ruff!" was the response. Odd's face brightened up once he heard his life-long companion barking.

"There's my little diggity-doggy!" He cried happily, quickly locating and picking up the purple kennel before he peeked through the metal door.

Sure enough, there was the face of the little gray mutt looking back at his owner, barking happily as he saw Odd's grinning face.

"Alright, let's find that transfer bus and get out of here!" Odd said, heading for the airport exit.

After about six minutes of navigating his way through the busy crowds, Odd managed to exit the airport and looked around for the pick-up point for the bus that would take him to Kadic. It took a few turns of his head and asking around several other bus drivers for the transportation he needed, but thankfully, it wasn't much trouble, and soon enough, Odd was boarding the Kadic bus.

However, he soon ran into trouble with the driver, who had a problem concerning Kiwi. "No dogs allowed on the bus!" He said.

"But I have a form for him, all filled out and everything! You can check it out for yourself!" Odd protested.

The driver grunted, scowling at the boy as he begrudgingly gave in. "Show me."

Odd obliged, digging the forms out from his bag...while holding onto to Kiwi's kennel. “C’mon, c’mon...they have to be here somewhere…” he grumbled, before feeling the kennel almost slip out of his hands. “Oh, crap! Come on, come on...” ...Which of course only made the process more troublesome, until Odd, somehow managing to not drop Kiwi, got the form handed to the driver, who was very nearly at his limit.

The angry driver read over the forms, grunted again, and handed them back to the boy, but still scowling.

"Alright, he can come on board, but you both will sit in the back. I don't want that dog disturbing my other passengers. We've been having a lot of traffic jams here recently, and the last thing I want to hear is the loud barking of a mutt in the case we get stuck."

"So long as Kiwi's on board with me, that's fine with us!" Odd smiled in return, to which his dog barked once happily.

The driver grunted and then settled into his seat as Odd came onboard the bus. There were several other people on board: most were other kids around Odd's age, all also going to various boarding schools in the general area, but there were also others who were of varying ages, going and doing their own businesses. The third seat from the back was available, and that was where Odd sat down.

After waiting for ten minutes, the bus finally drove out of the airport and headed out onto the streets. Looking out at the window, Odd was surprised at how dull the city looked, compared to how it was described in some books he had read at home. He had heard that some kind of freak radiation accident had required several buildings throughout Paris to be demolished and street plans to be changed, with the majority of these changes being present in the suburb where Odd was heading: Boulogne-Billancourt.

The city, in regards to its outward appearance as a whole, had a darker and slightly more oppressive air to it than Odd was originally expecting, to be honest...but for the most part it still held a fairly welcoming atmosphere.

The bus now moved onto the freeways towards Boulogne-Billancourt. And unfortunately, just as the bus driver had predicted, there was a traffic jam up ahead, and fifteen minutes after making a decent amount of progress, nearly halfway to Kadic, every car, bus, truck, and van had stopped dead in their tracks, completely and utterly dead.

As everyone aboard began to grumble and complain, with the driver in particular throwing a spectacular number of swear words, Odd chanced to look out the window. Currently, their bus was on a higher level of a highway interchange, meaning that he had the chance to look down at a lower level. Down below was a big rig truck driving in a far less congested lane. The truck and its trailer were painted red but were also covered in multi-colored graffiti, making the vehicle stand out in comparison to the other vehicles down below.

However, that was when Odd saw something very unusual: what seemed to be a thick, black wisp of smoke shot past his window and dived down towards the truck. Before Odd knew it, the driver of the big rig seemed to have lost control, and the truck drove straight out of the interchange, crashing downwards into what was thankfully a bare patch of grass. The driver just barely managed to jump out in time.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Odd screamed in shock, causing Kiwi to start barking in panic.

"HEY, I told you to keep it down back there, kid!" The driver barked.

"Did anyone else see that?" Odd asked, trying to calm Kiwi down. Several of the other passengers on his side of the bus looked down, catching the crash scene down below.

"Oh dear, that's horrible! Let's hope the driver is okay...oh, look, he made it out!" A woman holding a small child cried out in relief.

"Did anyone see the black stuff?" Odd asked.

"What black stuff?" Another passenger asked.

"Some kind of black streak-thingy flew down there and caused that truck to spin out of control! Don't tell me no one else saw it!" Odd exclaimed worriedly.

"Kid, we are in a traffic jam, so I am not in the mood for any nonsense right now!" The bus driver exclaimed irritably. "Everyone on board, zip it! I don't like the fact that we are currently stuck, so I can do without any people stressing about some black thing! Now, let's just sit down and wait for this damn traffic to clear up!"

Not wanting to get on the driver's bad (though considering his temperament, worse) side any longer, everyone immediately quieted down and stayed in their seats. Kiwi would've kept on barking had Odd not hastily thrown a few kibbles into the kennel, causing the dog to munch on those instead of continuing to make noise.

After ten minutes, the traffic finally cleared up and the bus began to make progress again. Odd, in the meantime, tried to shove the black streak he had seen out of his head, but for some reason he kept thinking back to it, wondering just what the heck that thing was...and where it might have come from. His instincts of dread, a sixth sense of sorts, were sending warning signals his way. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was up ahead.

"What was that...and why do I have a sinking feeling that there's only going to be more trouble further ahead...?" Odd mumbled to himself, clutching Kiwi’s kennel protectively.

* * *

The black-haired girl in the red kimono knelt down, panting heavily. It was exhausting having to do this, but it had to be done. She hoped that would be the last one for a while, but a part of her suspected that it wouldn't be long until she and her companion in the yellow armor needed to return to this world.

 _“You okay?"_ A transmitted, male voice called out to her.

Yeah," she replied, still panting.

 _"That's the last of the specters, and the Tower seems stable. You two can come back now, time for us to get some shut-eye."_ The voice affirmed confidently.

"Alright," the girl agreed, closing her eyes as she disappeared in a flash of light, with a second one following soon after in the distance.

Unbeknownst to the girl, her companion, and the operator, however, a black mass that had managed to hide from her thanks to the darkening evening sky, began to stir underneath a waterfall that was some distance away. Silently, and moving with the speed of a shark, the black, ghost-like creature swam down a river and into the lake, disappearing inside.

After waiting for a little while, it gurgled and rose out of the water, slowly flying into the sky until it was capable of viewing the entire island, with all ten of its massive pillar-like Towers in clear view.

Then, the ghost drifted towards the lowest visible end of the island, towards a Tower that was near the edge of the abyss below, hovering around it. As the hours of night ticked away, more and more ghosts slowly began to manifest, joining their brethren in swarming around the Tower, circling around it like a swarm of bees…

* * *

Thankfully, when the bus finally reached Kadic, Odd was finally able to push the thoughts of the black streak out of his head, leaving him able to focus more on his new school. He exited the bus, thankfully without any trouble from the bus driver, who seemed to have calmed down. Jumping down with Kiwi and his personal belongings, the bus soon left...with Odd apparently having been the only person whose destination was Kadic.

Odd looked up at his stomping grounds, seeing its appearance as a large complex made up of white and gray buildings, all located within a heavily forested area. A large dirt pathway led to the school's courtyard, where a statue of an old man stood, turned to face the buildings as if he was appraising or criticizing the establishment and its construction.

Odd looked at both sides of the street, looking to see if any cars or trucks were coming, and upon seeing that none were coming his way, he crossed the street over to Kadic Academy.

Odd entered through the open gates, instantly getting a better look at the activity before him. Several students were mingling about the courtyard, talking with their friends, reading a book by themselves, or talking on their cell phones...like any other normal group of kids would do. As much as Odd would've loved to join in, he remembered that he needed to see the principal first, given that he was the new kid...as well as the fact that he had brought his dog with him.

Odd then took notice of a large brown-haired man wearing a red sweatshirt, monitoring the courtyard. He figured that this man would be his best bet at getting some directions around here.

"Excuse me, sir? I'm looking for the principal's office." Odd said, reaching up to tap the man's shoulder to get his attention. The latter swiftly turned around to look at the young male.

"Who are you?" He asked in a gruff tone.

"My name is Odd Della-Robbia, and I'm trying to find the principal's office." Odd answered. 

The man in the red sweatshirt looked down at the boy, taking note of his physical appearance and possessions. Besides the bulky bag holding his school supplies, Jim noticed that Odd had brought a skateboard with him, as well as a dog kennel. Seeing said kennel made him realize who Odd was.

"You're that kid with the dog, aren't you?" He asked.

“Wait, you know me?" Odd asked, surprised that he already had a reputation...apparently.

"No, but the principal told me to keep a lookout for a kid with the dog. I'll be honest with you, kid: I'm no stranger to unusual things, such as monkeys wearing turquoise undershirts, or a caribou with goat horns...but it's been a real long while since we've last received a form requesting for a pet being allowed to stay here." The man replied.

Odd raised his left eyebrow in curiosity. "Wait, how is it that someone asking to keep their dog with them is just as weird as a caribou with goat horns?" He asked.

"I could elaborate on all of that, but right now, I'd rather not talk about it. My name's Jim Morales, follow me and we'll held over to Principal Delmas's office." Jim replied.

"Yes, sir...Jimbo!" Odd replied, giving a salute.

"Jimbo?" Jim asked in confusion.

"I like to give nicknames to people." Odd answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Jimbo...hmm, eh, I like it, but Mr. Delmas isn't the kind of guy who likes nicknames, so don't try nicknaming him or that dog's going to be on the next flight back to Italy, form or no form." Jim warned.

"Right, right." Odd said, chuckling, though he fully intended to listen to Jim's warning.

Jim guided Odd through the courtyard, whereupon Odd got a glimpse of an epithet etched onto the statue’s base, reading: ‘Namesake: Philip K. Dick’. From there, Jim led him into the school itself, straight into the hallway leading to Delma's office. Once there, they entered the secretary's room, where a blond, bespectacled woman was sorting through several papers. A nameplate on her desk read "Nicole Weber: Secretary".

"Hey, Nicole? This is the kid who asked about bringing his dog." Jim said, gesturing to Kiwi's travel kennel. Nicole looked at the boy...and then nodded.

"All right," she said, before picking up her desk phone and paging Delmas. "Sir, the boy who requested those forms for his pet is here."

One quick nod later and Nicole gestured towards the door. "You can see him now," she said.

Odd nodded in turn and entered Delma's office, with Jim following to keep an eye on him and Kiwi.

Jean-Pierre Delmas was sitting at his desk going over paperwork when he looked up, gesturing for Odd to take a seat. He had grey hair and a beard, as well as a large mustache that was a darker shade than the rest of his hair. He wore a brown suit over a tan vest, as well as a large pair of glasses. His face was hard to read thanks to the thick facial hair covering his mouth, but his eyes looked rather hard, completing the classic appearance and apparent mannerisms of a stern administrator.

Odd sat down quietly, laying his possessions carefully onto the floor.

“Welcome to Kadic Academy, Mr. Della-Robbia. I trust that you understand the rules here? Especially concerning your pet?" Delmas questioned.

"Yes, Mr. Delmas." Odd said, nodding.

"I trust that you have the forms filled out?" Delmas continued. The boy nodded again and handed the forms concerning Kiwi to Delmas, who looked over them carefully. He then nodded slowly.

"All right, the paperwork is in order. But you understand what will happen if you cannot keep that dog in check. I will have to call your parents to take him home, and you will be spending quite some time suspended from school." Delmas warned. “While we do allow pets, it is very rare that I ever authorize this privilege, so I would like you to keep in mind Mister Della Robbia, that this is a privilege, not a right. Do I make myself clear?”

"I promise I won't let get Kiwi out of control, sir." Odd replied.

"As long as we all understand each other. Jim, make sure that Della-Robbia knows about the rules here and get him acquainted with his new roommate." Delmas acquired.

“Yes sir, Mr. Delmas." Jim replied.

And with that, Odd got up from his chair and gathered up his belongings...thankfully, with no noise from Kiwi, who had fallen asleep. As he got up, Odd noticed a picture on Delma's desk that featured who seemed to be a younger and thinner Delmas with a girl about Odd's age with brown hair wearing a red-and-pink shirt with a yellow heart. Odd was a bit curious about the photo, but decided not to pry into what he assumed to be the principal's personal life.

As such, Jim led Odd out of the office and the two walked through the school, heading towards Odd's assigned room, which they reached after about five minutes of walking.

While they walked, Jim laid down the ground rules of the dorms. "Breakfast is at 7:00 AM, lunch is at 12:15 PM, and dinner is at 7:00 PM. You're not allowed to be in your room between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM during Mondays through Fridays, and you can't enter your room between 8:00 AM and 1:30 PM on Saturdays. As for Sundays, which is today, by the way, you're allowed to be here as long as you want.” 

He then mused over the last part of his explanation. “Though, that being said, I don't know if you'll skip meals or not like a certain student tends to..."

"Don't worry about it, I've got a big appetite, so I don't _ever_ skip my meals." Odd replied with a casual grin.

"All right. Now, your new roommate should be able to fill you in on the rest of the rules.” Jim explained...before his expression fell as he seemed to remember who that roommate was. “...provided that he actually bothered to remember them."

So, who's the lucky guy I'll be bunking with?" Odd asked as they had now entered the dorm hallway, arriving at his designated room.

“He should be in there. Then again, this is Stern we’re talking about, so who knows?" Jim grumbled, opening the door to reveal two other boys sitting in a rather dull-looking room. One boy, who was sitting down on one of the room's two beds, was wearing a baggy blue-shirt and brown Capri pants, had blond hair, and was currently looking up from his laptop's computer screen in surprise, given how suddenly Jim had opened the door.

The other boy, who was currently leaning on the wall, was a dark brown-haired individual, wearing a dark yellow-green shirt over a light yellow-green vest and cargo pants, who looked at Odd with what could be best be described as mild disinterest. Odd followed Jim's gaze and realized that it was the brown-haired boy that he would share a room with.

"Huh, so he bothered to stay after all.” Jim muttered to himself. “Stern, here's your new roommate. If the dog becomes too much trouble, report to me immediately! That is all." Jim said, leaving Odd alone with the other two boys.

The room was silent for a few moments before "Stern" motioned for Odd to come in. He did so, sitting his stuff down on the other bed opposite of the blond-haired boy.

"You're new around here." The blond boy noted curiously.

"Yeah, I've just arrived. I'm Odd, Odd Della-Robbia." Odd said.

"My name is Jeremie; Jeremie Belpois, and he's Ulrich." Jeremie said, not bothering to mention Ulrich's last name since Jim had already given the courtesy.

Odd gave a nod for a reply as he pulled the sleeping Kiwi out of his travel kennel and set the dog on the bed. Grateful to finally be on something soft, Kiwi patted the mattress before lying down, content to be asleep. Odd likewise, was glad for the opportunity to rest, and stretched his limbs as he sat next to the little mutt.

However, as Odd got into a comfortable position, he chanced to look around the room and saw that Jeremie was looking at him in a manner that seemed rather searching and critical. Likewise, Ulrich was giving his new roommate a similar look, though while the blond’s face was unreadable, the brown-haired boy’s face was much stricter. It made Odd feel a bit nervous as they scrutinized him.

After a few tense seconds, Jeremie’s face turned away from Odd and towards the dozing Kiwi. 

"You know something, Odd?” Jeremie observed. “Your dog looks really dumb."

Relief suddenly seemed to pour into Odd, the tension in the room dissipating as soon as it had manifested. He found himself immediately back in his element, giving Kiwi a quick glance as mischievous thoughts went through his head.

"Don't say that," Odd replied in a low tone. "He's very sensitive, and he can get REAL mean." Odd then proceeded to pick up Kiwi, who had opened his eyes before shoving him near Jeremie's face, much to the other boy's fright.

"Wait, really?" The bespectacled boy asked, sweat-dripping from his head comically.

"Nah." Odd drawled before he broke out into a large grin. Kiwi looked at his owner in a deadpan fashion and barked in annoyance while Ulrich face-palmed, disbelieving that Jeremie could be scared of such a harmless-looking dog.

Or silently bemoaning that this was what he would have to deal with in his life from now on. Or both. Honestly, any of those options worked.

"A-anyways, I see you've met Jim." Jeremie coughed as he got back his bearings, moving on to a different topic.

"Yeah, he's an interesting character." Odd chuckled.

"He's pretty strict for the most part, but not that bad of a guy. Still, he gives some pretty heavy detentions."

Odd then looked over at Ulrich, grinning widely. "So... we’re roommates now, eh? We'll get along just fine, you and me."

Ulrich just shrugged, his facial expression remaining a stoic frown.

"Not much of a talker?" Odd asked.

"No." Ulrich replied before leaving the room. "Just don't let that dog get too crazy, all right? I don't want to wake up in wet bed sheets."

"Kiwi is completely housebroken, so there's no need to worry about that!" Odd called out as Ulrich walked down the hallway.

Kiwi, whom Odd had let down back onto the bed, didn't fully understand the human talk, but felt a brief compulsion to do his business on the bed Jeremie was sitting on, before deciding against it, figuring that it would not be worth the trouble and instead decided to catch a bit more sleep, settling back into his owner’s bed.

Odd looked down at his belongings. "I'll be unpacking for a while, so are you planning on doing anything else?" He asked Jeremie.

"Nah, I have work to do on my computer." Jeremie replied, gesturing to his laptop.

"Oh? What are you working on? Games?" Odd asked as he got up and started to unpack.

“It's...uh, something like that." Jeremie answered as he set himself in front of his laptop and started typing.

Losing interest, Odd started unpacking his stuff in silence, a procedure that took around an hour to complete. While this went on, Jeremie silently absorbed himself in his work, typing up programs and analyzing codes.

When Odd had finally finished unpacking, he looked back at Jeremie, who took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead, clearly annoyed by something. Jeremie closed his laptop and looked at Odd.

"I'm going to put my laptop back in my room, so you can explore the school if you want." He suggested, getting up from Ulrich's bed and exiting the room. Odd looked down at the sleeping Kiwi, gave him a small pat on the head, and then exited the dorm room himself.

* * *

After about half an hour of walking around, Odd had managed to familiarize himself with most of Kadic's grounds. The school's exterior was built very much like a Japanese high school, but from what he could see, the interior clearly had more of a native French-like feeling to it. Overall, Kadic seemed fairly well-furnished, if not a bit dull-looking when it came to the empty walls. It might’ve been a bit dull on the outside, and the interiors were nothing to write home about, but Odd wasn’t in much of a mind to complain. He had arrived here, that was all that mattered.

Odd was currently at the main courtyard that he had arrived in, and it was still swarming with people. However, Odd got the feeling of a lazy Sunday, seeing how quiet everyone was...for the most part. Odd himself wouldn't have minded a nice, long nap, but he then noticed Jeremie exiting the building and walking down the archways.

"Yo, Einstein!" Odd called out.

Jeremie turned around and waved Odd over, though with a look of mild confusion. "Einstein?" He questioned in bewilderment.

"You seem like the smart type...so Einstein's a good nickname for you. You were so completely focused on that computer of yours while I was packing, you didn't even look up when I nearly dropped my skateboard!" Odd answered.

"It happens whenever I get immersed enough in my work. I would've been out here sooner, but just before I shut off my laptop, I realized what I was doing wrong with a program I was working on...but I got it to work just fine! You want to know how?" Jeremie asked.

Odd shook his head. "See? That's why I called you Einstein! But no thanks, I'm not really up to computer programming."

"It's not just normal computer programming; it's Quantum computer programming!" Jeremie exclaimed excitedly before coughing quickly and steadying himself. "But in either case, how are you getting along here?"

"It's actually really cool here!" Odd replied exuberantly...before a sly look graced his features as he and Jeremie walked over to a bench in the courtyard. Jeremie sat down normally, while Odd climbed onto the back rest. Once they were settled in, Odd decided to make his move, posing a certain question to his new companion of sorts.

"So, are there any cool chicks here too?"

Jeremie gestured over to a part of the courtyard that was fairly isolated, owing to the fact that the spot was currently being occupied by Ulrich, who was at that moment, sparring with a tall, black-haired girl wearing completely black clothing. Her shirt notably exposed her midriff.

"That's Yumi. She trains everyday with Ulrich," Jeremie stated.

As Jeremie finished his statement, Yumi managed to get the upper hand on Ulrich, grabbing his wrist and throwing him onto the ground martial arts style (given that Odd didn't have a firm grasp on martial arts techniques, he couldn't exactly identify the specific technique Yumi had used).

"So you better not give her a hard time." Jeremie confirmed. Odd winced at the scene before him, and any thoughts of seducing Yumi with his charms vanished immediately.

Yumi had pinned Ulrich to the ground, and the two pre-teens' faces were rather close to each other. Both of them began to breathe heavily, with Yumi beginning to blush.

A lightbulb then went on in Odd's head. "They're really into each other, aren't they?" He smirked.

"Yup, and yet...they haven't gotten together yet. It's probably the greatest mystery known to mankind on why they haven't tied the knot. Pretty much everyone here knows about it. Milly and Tamiya, the girls who run the Kadic News, secretly placed a betting pool based on how long it would take for the other one to confess." Jeremie replied. "I've got my five euros set at about...a month from now."

“Wow, you are _cheap_.” Odd chuckled at this little tidbit as Yumi and Ulrich got up, both of them now visibly flustered. Shaking it off, they walked over to Jeremie and him.

"So, this is Ulrich's new roommate?" Yumi asked, still a bit nervous from her close encounter.

"Name's Odd, Odd Della-Robbia! It's nice to meet you!" Odd said, giving Yumi a thumbs up while slowly edging away from both her and Ulrich, since there was no need to suffer broken bones or death by the sheer amount of awkwardness both Yumi’s and Ulrich's sexual tension gave off at the moment.

Yumi merely gave a nod in response. 

All was silent...before Odd decided to break the ice and awkwardness, via a classic joke:

"Why did the chicken cross the other side?" He asked.

"To stop the other guy from telling bad jokes." Ulrich deadpanned after everyone else groaned. There was silence once more...only for the four children to start laughing, aside from Ulrich, who just stifled a chuckle, diffusing the awkward feelings lingering in the air.

“So, how’d you guys all end up in this place?” Odd asked after the laughter died down.

“My parents thought it’d be better for me to get away from the public school in my old neighborhood. I’ve been a boarder here since the last school year started, and right now we’re five months into the second year.” Jeremie replied. “Something like that happen to you?” the bespectacled boy then asked.

“Pretty much, though I was kind of the one who suggested the idea.” Odd replied, rolling his shoulders.

“Why?” Yumi asked.

Oh boy, how to answer that question? Many kinds of explanations and narratives danced around in Odd’s head, each varying in length as he debated on what to say about that. The full story? No, no, of course not, that might take too long. Getting into all of the details might be more than a bit...messy. Plus, it was also super-personal and while Odd was enjoying making new friends, letting them know everything would just be weird. After all, it wasn’t like he was in a rush, right? 

Well, technically he was so as to avoid people getting ideas from a pause, so he went with the best summary possible.

“My sisters.” Odd replied curtly.

“Ah.” Yumi nodded, seeming to understand since she didn’t pry any further. “My parents sent me here while we stay in France. I used to live all the way back in Japan, but we moved to this country when my father was sent abroad for work about 6 years ago. Though, it’s only recently that I came to Kadic as a boarder this year.”

“Ulrich?” Odd asked

“Not really much more to say other than what Jeremie and Yumi said.” Ulrich said, shrugging his arms. “Been here for over a year now.”

Odd noticed that Ulrich had become a bit dourer than usual when the topic of ‘how they got here’ had been brought up, but decided not to pry. He hadn’t divulged the details of every single event in his life after all, so Ulrich was entitled to keep his own reasons to himself. Plus, it was something that they had in common. Odd appreciated that. It meant that bunking with Ulrich could be much easier.

“So what was that kung-fu stuff you two were doing?” Odd asked.

“It’s not kung-fu, it’s Pencak Silat.” Yumi clarified.

“Pencak Silat?” Odd asked, confused.

“It’s an Indonesian combat form focused on grappling, striking, and weapon throwing, where every part of your body is meant to be used in combat.” Yumi replied.

Odd nodded, and started mentally going over his first impressions of his new acquaintances.

Ulrich was clearly the cool, silent type, who would not waste much time talking, and given his training, making him mad would be a one-way trip to the hospital. And again, they seemed to share at least a few things in common, so that was a nice bonus.

Yumi seemed to be cut from a similar cloth, though she seemed a bit more open and willing to talk than Ulrich was. That being said, to piss her off would also equal a one-way trip to the hospital, so Odd made another reminder to himself to not anger her.

As for Jeremie, he was pretty much what someone would call your stereotypical nerd, being focused completely on mathematics and computer coding. Not really anything Odd could follow, but he seemed amiable enough.

As the pre-teens continued to talk with one another, Odd remembered that he needed to take Kiwi out for a walk, and while he went back to his and Ulrich's room to do so, Jeremie took the opportunity to go back to his room and grab his laptop again, saying that he had been struck by inspiration concerning one of his programs. As such, the four pre-teens and Kiwi eventually found themselves atop the school roof. Odd was allowing Kiwi to run around in a small circle while Yumi stood next to him, looking at Ulrich, who in turn was leaning on the handrail, looking at Jeremie's computer screen, which the boy was once again engrossed in. Notably, Jeremie was sitting on the handrail, positioning his legs in a way so as to hold his laptop.

The four had been on the roof for about ten minutes, continuing to chat and break the ice. It was then however, that the schoolyard bell for meals rang.

"C'mon Jeremie, we're all going to be late for lunch." She called out, knowing how Jeremie had a bad habit of being so focused on his work that he'd occasionally miss his meals.

"Lunch?" Odd perked up, picking up Kiwi.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, but...but wait, there's something here!" Jeremie responded, leaning forward to look at his screen.

The lines of code Jeremie had been writing had started to appear on the screen more slowly, as if the boy's laptop had suddenly lagged. Then they started to distort, and when Jeremie tried to press the backspace button, a black silhouette of an island suddenly took up Jeremie's screen. Towers were visible in the silhouette, and what appeared to be several cables rose out of what would've been a dark sea, supporting the landmass that spouted out of the dark area.

"AHH!" Jeremie screamed out in surprise and fear; he thought he'd successfully created a firewall against that. He accidentally dropped the laptop, revealing the silhouette to Yumi and Odd.

Surprisingly enough, instead of breaking into pieces on impact with the roof, the laptop landed upright, no worse for the wear, and seven, black, ghost-like streaks shot out of the screen and into the sky. Odd immediately recognized them; they were exactly the same as the black streak he'd seen earlier.

"Oh, holy crap, it's that stuff again!" He cried out in shock.

Yumi had also looked up at the scene, and then looked at Jeremie, gasping as she did so. The blond-haired boy was starting to lean back too far, and soon Jeremie found himself tumbling off the handrail and falling down to the ground below.

"HELP!" Jeremie called out in shock.

"Jeremie!" Yumi cried in horror. She ran over to the handrail, and as she did so, Odd felt a gust of wind rush past him as the door to the rooftop slammed itself open.

Before the purple-shirted boy could register anything else, Yumi glared down, focusing her energy. Before Jeremie could splatter into jelly on the ground, he found himself stopped in mid-fall, as if someone had thrown him a life harness. Of course, he knew that he had not been saved with a rope as he suddenly _floated_ up to the roof, still in a somewhat seated position.

Yumi was looking up at Jeremie, sweating a bit from having to activate her telekinesis so quickly. She stole a brief glance to her left, but she knew that Ulrich was probably on the ground by now. Yumi then exhaled slowly, seeing Jeremie safely floating her, before turning back to look at Odd.

"Odd, can you keep a secret?" She asked, resigned to what had just happened.

Odd for his part was trembling, his mouth agape with shock at what he had just seen. Another gust of wind blew by him, and before Odd knew it, Ulrich was standing next to Yumi. Odd looked over at where she was and realized that Ulrich had somehow rushed from his old spot, straight past Odd and down to the ground, and now, Ulrich was back where he was...as if he hadn't moved at all.

Odd would've jumped with terror, but he was too petrified by what he had seen. His world had suddenly turned upside-down. What he had thought was just some freaky black-streak thing he’d happened to observe earlier was in fact something even worse, his new classmates had superpowers for some reason, and judging by their reactions, knew all about whatever-the-hell that was.

The short boy opened his mouth, trying to form words, but all he managed were a small bunch of gasps as Yumi closed her eyes, using her telekinesis to set Jeremie down safely on the roof. The boy looked at Odd, who was still trying to process what had just happened.

"Well, guess we'll have to skip lunch," Jeremie said sheepishly.

Odd managed to snap back to the present at the mention of food, grasping at a familiar lifeline, only to remember that he'd just seen Yumi use the 'Force', and Ulrich had somehow either learned to teleport or he had the powers of the Flash, and considering the gust of wind Odd had felt twice, he guessed it was probably the latter.

"...What's going on?" Odd asked after a long pause, trying to stifle Kiwi, who was barking loudly once again.

"We'll show you." Yumi replied curtly.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie headed for the doorway back into the building with Odd following behind, trying to keep up with them as they ran. The four rushed through several quiet areas of the school where there weren't many teachers or students around. Soon, they ran down a rather dusty stairway and exited the school.

The four children and Kiwi, whom Odd had placed on the ground, now ran into the woods, navigating their way until after covering a certain distance, they reached a manhole cover, which Ulrich proceeded to open with little trouble.

"Wait, we're going into the sewers?" Odd asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Don't worry about any smells. This leads into the city's storm sewers," Jeremie explained, "so no fecal matter whatsoever. Unless, well…"

"No need to finish that sentence or thought, Einstein!" Odd cried out as all four children climbed down into the sewer.

When they climbed down, Odd took a whiff of the air. As Jeremie had said, there was no evidence of any disgusting stenches, given that Kiwi wasn't reacting in horror. The thought made Odd remember the time when his sisters had pranked him with a rotten garlic clove. Kiwi had been running around like a rabid wolf whenever Odd came near him that day.

Ulrich suddenly grunted, jolting Odd out of his memories. The new kid looked and saw the male martial artist pointing at the wall.

"We left our gear back at the factory," Jeremie groaned, face-palming.

"So it's still on foot then?" Odd asked.

"Yep." Yumi confirmed, and thus, the children and their dog resumed running.

After navigating through several tunnels, during which Odd swore he felt the ground below him shake somewhat, the group had reached another ladder.

"Up there." Yumi pointed out. The four climbed up the ladder, with Kiwi in the crook of his owner’s arm, and when they returned to the surface, Odd could now see a long bridge that led up to an enormous building.

Having never been a true student of architecture, Odd couldn't exactly describe it, but he did remember seeing a photo of a building identical to it once before while he had been reading up on Paris and its suburbs. Last he checked, it was called the Renault Automobile Factory, but then what the heck did cars have to do with evil black ghosts and superpowers?

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Odd ran across the bridge with the others, coming up to a large set of double doors. Jeremie and Ulrich silently and quickly pushed them open, letting the afternoon sunlight into what seemed to be an enormous dark void.

However, as the pre-teens ran into the factory, that darkness cleared up, and Odd gasped with wonder at just what he was seeing: any sign that this place had been an automobile factory was gone now. Instead, enormous machines that looked like they came out of the Matrix filled the area. All sorts of high-tech equipment, connected to each other with all kinds of wires, surrounded Odd, which again was clearly not for making cars. Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie ran towards an area surrounded with television and computer screens.

The computer screens were mainly gathered in a small bunker-like crook, covered with keyboards and having a rolling chair. Just outside of the crook was a couch, clearly scavenged from a junkyard. Next to the couch was an assortment of pillows and blankets, and right next to those were two skateboards and a scooter. In front of the couch was a yellow rug, also clearly scavenged from a junkyard.

But perhaps the most intimidating feature of the factory’s interior was the enormous metal column. A set of stairs would lead a person up to the floor where the column was situated, with said floor covering the computer crook. The column had a large glass window in the left center of it. Two more longer flights of stairs led up to the top of the column, whereupon there laid a trio of open cylindrical chambers, all large enough for a person to stand in.

"I'll go!" Ulrich called as he climbed up the stairs.

Yumi ran towards Jeremie, who had settled into a rolling chair and scooted over to the computer screen, which was situated to the right of Odd's sight. Both Yumi and Jeremie now focused their eyes on the monitor.

Odd watched in awe as Ulrich climbed into one of the chambers. Jeremie began typing on the keyboard, preparing to activate the scanner. The door closed, and Jeremie pressed the 'Enter' key. A screen opened up, showing a scan of Ulrich dressed as a samurai. Jeremie began murmuring to himself, monitoring the process.

"Scanner: Ulrich… **virtualization**." He said quietly.

In the scanner, Ulrich closed his eyes as he felt a powerful gust of air blast through him while a blinding light consumed his body. When it had all stopped, Ulrich opened his eyes, gazing at his new surroundings. He opened his mouth slightly; he'd come here plenty of times before, but he still couldn't help but be awed by what he was looking at.

Ulrich was currently looking at an enormous lake, tinged green by the surface of it reflecting the enormous amount of vegetation on the island. Close by, and next to some rather large rocks on the edge of the lake, were a large number of tree stumps leading to another shore of the lake. Ulrich looked behind to see a vast forest occupying the slopes of the hills, with a series of waterfalls being visible. He then looked up, seeing two of the ten enormous Towers that dotted the entirety of the island. All of this was underneath a sky that had the same hue of the early afternoon back in the real world. Not seeing anything unusual yet, Ulrich knelt down to the ground, examining the edge of the lake to see if one of the specters had decided to take a swim, so to speak.

Ulrich had also changed in appearance: his old clothes were gone, replaced by that of a classic yellow samurai uniform, though instead of a helmet, Ulrich instead wore a yellow headband, and instead of having heavy armor cover every inch of his body, his arms were bare for the most part, aside from his lower left arm having an armored sleeve over it. Like that of a classical samurai, his pants were rather large and puffy, and a katana was sheathed underneath his belt. Finally, a large oni face was present on the back of his costume.

At long last, back at the factory Odd found his proper voice.

"Yumi, what's going on?!" Odd asked, "Where the heck did Ulrich go?", pointing up to the now open scanner. Yumi kept her eyes on the screen, watching Ulrich cautiously wander the area.

"Ulrich's in Xanadu, an artificial digital world. We don't know why it exists, but one thing we do know is that there's something wrong with it," she said.

Yumi was about to elaborate further, but then saw on the screen that there were three black masses creeping near Ulrich. "Ulrich, Ulrich! Watch out!" She cried.

Ulrich heard Yumi, via the area transmitter that allowed for anyone to speak to someone in Xanadu without needing a headset, and he quickly looked behind himself. Three enormous black creatures had appeared before Ulrich, and the one closest to him was rising upwards as if to attack him...and that was exactly what it was trying to do. The black mass jumped towards Ulrich like a flying fish, opening its mouth as if it were trying to eat him.

Before its attack could connect however, Ulrich dashed away at high speed, a blue streak following behind him. He made several long jumps in an attempt to increase the distance between himself and the specters, which now started flying towards him. Ulrich reached the forest, and started sprinting as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, despite his super speed, one of the specters began to catch up to Ulrich. He quickly looked up, seeing that he was nearing one of the Towers. Gathering momentum, Ulrich made an enormous upward leap, landing safely on one of the enormous cables connected to the base of the Tower. Turning around, Ulrich saw the specter preparing to ram into him, and he quickly looked down, seeing another cable below him. As the specter dashed towards Ulrich, he jumped down to the cable, so instead of the specter smashing into Ulrich, it smashed into the Tower instead, instantly becoming pulverized.

As Ulrich was running from the specters, Odd was unloading his questions about the entire situation. "So, if this virtual world is so dangerous, why the heck are you guys going there?" He asked Yumi.

"Because our world is in danger," Yumi said simply.

Odd thought back to the specter that had possessed the big rig, just as an enormous tremor shook the factory...as a result of the specter crashing into the Tower. Jeremie hugged his keyboard while Yumi grabbed onto a counter for support. Odd managed to keep his balance, holding out his arms so as to stay upright, and quickly realizing where the shaking in the sewers had come from.

When the shaking had ended, Yumi looked at Odd. "You see what I mean?"

Before Odd could give a response, Jeremie spoke up, having finished typing in a few commands. "Ulrich, your sabre's charged!"

Back in Xanadu, Ulrich had dashed along the other cables, and was now in a sort-of cavern-like area at that moment, with enormous stalactites of earth hanging above his head. The second specter had seen him and dashed at Ulrich like a crazed bull. However, Ulrich now drew his charged katana, with the blade appearing to be made completely out of blue zeros and ones. As the specter dashed at him, Ulrich slashed at the creature several times in rapid succession. The specter now flew past Ulrich, stopped, and then dissolved into nothing.

Ulrich looked up, and saw the third specter fly away. Giving chase, Ulrich jumped down several more cables, reaching the ground. Before Ulrich, the lake extended further, until it ended near a large mountain.

As the specter continued to fly away, Ulrich jumped further and further, using the rocks that popped out from the lake as stepping stones. Once he reached dry land, Ulrich ran up the mountainside, continuing to jump in order to quickly shorten the distance between himself and the specter.

Finally, Ulrich reached the top of the mountain, but the specter had already flown downwards. There, the mountain overlooked the lowest area of Xanadu before the island terminated over the black abyss down below. From the mountain, Ulrich could see two of the Towers, one of which protruded from the bottom left slope of the mountain while the other one hung over the edge of the lowest part of the island. It was what was happening to the latter Tower that shocked him.

An enormous swarm of specters circled around the entirety of the Tower’s height, an incredible amount that far surpassed the number of specters he and Yumi had been sent in to deal with previously.

"Well, we've found the infected Tower," Ulrich grumbled as the specter he had been chasing rejoined its brethren…and soon, dozens upon dozens of specters flew away from the Tower, heading for both Ulrich and the other Towers!

Ulrich jumped down onto a ledge, ducking so as to avoid the specters, who now seemed to ignore him and simply flew straight towards the other Towers. Ulrich watched as they began to swarm around the Tower that Ulrich had previously been traversing.

Jeremie had seen it all, absolutely horrified at this. He had not been prepared for them to have to deal with so many specters at once, and he knew that Ulrich couldn't take them all on by himself. He also knew that if the specters managed to catch and defeat Ulrich, it would be the end for him right then and there. Jeremie had learned from studying the systems that ran Xanadu: if someone in the virtual world took too much damage to their avatars, then they would die in real life.

"Ulrich, come back right now!" Jeremie called out to his screen in a panic. "It's getting too dangerous!"

"No!" Yumi called out, much to Jeremie's surprise, but the boy kept his eyes glued to the screen in case Ulrich was suddenly surprise-attacked. "Then we'll have no way to come back later! If we leave now, those specters are going to cause all sorts of havoc! Heck, we don't know what kind of trouble the ones we saw earlier are causing!"

She then turned to look at Odd, who was getting a bit worried at Jeremie's earlier panic. "Odd, we're going!” She said, hastily, yet firmly walking past Jeremie and heading towards the stairs.

"Wait, me?" Odd asked. "What's going on in there?"

"We've got a lot more specters than we thought. There weren't really that many before. Heck, you could even count how many there were. Last night, we had to deal with only about twenty of them, and split ten between us before their attack was stopped." Yumi replied.

"How many are there now?" Odd asked, dreading the answer.

"A lot." Yumi replied grimly, not even bothering to give a set number.

"So wait, you want me to help you? I mean, I've got plenty of on-the-fly quips for rough situations, and I've used the various advantages that a svelte body offers, but this...this is completely out of my league! I don't even know half of what's going on right now! I've still got questions up the wazoo!" Odd cried out.

"You'll get those answers, Odd, I can promise you that. But this is important! If we don't stop those specters, they'll cause all sorts of damage!" Yumi said.

Odd thought back to earlier that day, when he'd seen a specter possess a truck and drive it off of the highway. It was sheer luck that the driver had managed to get out in time. He also realized what might have been causing all of those traffic jams the bus driver had been talking about, and that a few traffic accidents would probably be the least of everyone’s worries if more of those ghosts got out.

However, Odd's mind was quickly becoming jumbled with thoughts and theories; he had barely any idea of what was going on, and he didn't know just how severe this virtual world threat exactly was and why Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi were all risking their lives in that place. On the other hand, it was clearly a serious situation, and Yumi did promise to give him answers. Not only that, but a part of Odd was interested in seeing this virtual world for himself. He needed to make a decision, and he needed it to make it now.

Odd took a deep breath, knowing that it was now or never. He looked at Yumi and Jeremie.

"All right, I'm going with you." Odd said.

"Okay, head up to the scanners now! The specters are swarming everywhere in Xanadu!" Jeremie called out.

Nodding, both Odd and Yumi ran up the stairs leading to the scanners. A very short and last set of stairs led to the open metal column. Both Odd and Yumi walked in, Yumi turning around to face the rest of the factory and folding her arms, while Odd felt around the scanner, looking at the interior in awe. The scanner doors then shut, and both Yumi and Odd closed their eyes as they felt the rush of air and the intense glowing light.

Below, Jeremie looked at the two profiles that appeared before him, one which had Yumi dressed as a geisha, while the other one, which was Odd's, began to form, appearing as a sort of...cat-man costume.

"Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Odd... **virtualization**." Jeremie said.

In Xanadu, two bright lights appeared atop the Tower, whose cables Ulrich had been running on. The lights took on the form of two humans, fading away to reveal their forms.

Yumi’s appearance, as the screen indicated, was that of a geisha, where she was now wearing a black-and-red kimono with a yellow obi. The red side had yellow tracings made to look like leaves, while the black side had white outlines made to look like flowers. However, the kimono only went down to just below her waist, with her legs being covered up completely by red stockings with long black boots with white wrappings that stretched up to her knees. Her face was painted white and she was now wearing lipstick and blush. The top of her hair was now done in a short ponytail. 

As for Odd, his appearance had also shifted. The screen indicated that his form was that of a sort-of cat man, one that took inspiration from the Cheshire variety. In Xanadu, Odd was still wearing a purple shirt, except it had much shorter sleeves, a full collar, and an image of Kiwi within a yellow circle on its forward center. His magenta undershirt was now yellow on two sides and magenta in the middle. As for Odd’s pants, while they were still purple, they now had varying shades on their sides as well as yellow kneepads, and in the center of his waist-area was a magenta lightning bolt. Odd’s shoes were still yellow, but built more to take on longer distances. But again, as his form was that of a cat-man, Odd now had a long purple cat tail, and his arms now held long gloves that went up to his upper arm with cat head patterns at the end. Odd’s hands had also become large purple paws, with only four fingers each. In addition to his normal ears, Odd also sported a pair of purple cat ears at the top of his head, and finally, had two pairs of facial markings on his face, each of them tiger stripes. A pair of purple ones were at the top of his head, while a pair of magenta ones extended up his cheeks.

Yumi and Odd looked around their surroundings, which, since they were at the center of the top of an enormous white Tower that would result in them not being able to take in the surrounding below, were not much. They then looked at each other.

Odd had a bewildered expression at his form before he looked at Yumi’s, then back at his own. Yumi’s virtual form looked fairly cohesive, but Odd thought he looked utterly ridiculous, and he could tell Yumi was trying to stifle a laugh.

“Jeremie, why do I look like some sort of dorky cat-man?” he asked in disbelief.

Given that he was trying to figure out a strategy to get Ulrich over to where Yumi and Odd were, Jeremie wasn’t exactly paying attention to how Odd looked, then again even if he was he really didn’t care about his new teammate’s new appearance, but he could easily answer Odd’s question.

 _“It’s an effect of the scanners. They break down your physical form, and then…”_ he began, but Odd interrupted him.

“Um, could you give me the layman’s terms?” Odd asked, not wanting to hear the lengthy scientific terminology.

 _“Basically put, when it scans you in, you get an avatar based on your subconscious, and after that, powers based on it.”_ Jeremie answered.

“I don’t dream about giant purple-cats!” Odd cried out, “I mean, as an aspiring artist, I do look at surreal stuff for inspiration sometimes, but, argh!” Odd grumbled, not exactly pleased that he looked like a nitwit.

Then he remembered that an army of evil black virtual ghosts were trying to destroy the world.

“So, what powers do I get?” Odd asked.

 _“They tend to vary. Ulrich’s got his super-sprint, and Yumi has telekinesis. You should be able to figure it out soon.”_ Jeremie said.

“It better not be the ability to cough up hairballs!” Odd yelled out indignantly, surprised that his earlier apprehension had vanished somewhat.

 _“In either case, the specters are headed for your Tower, get ready to fight them off. Ulrich, you’ve got to head up there and give them a hand.”_ Jeremie commanded.

Back at the mountain, Ulrich gave a quick nod before taking a look at the Tower that had been haunted previously. It looked like the specters had left it alone, not one was left to be seen. Regardless, Ulrich decided it would be better to check it out after the battle was over. Ulrich ran down the mountain and headed back towards the Tower where Yumi and Odd were.

At the top of the Tower, Odd began to get somewhat nervous, not knowing what his power was, and whether or not he had a weapon. He really hoped that he’d get one soon, knowing that cat claws probably wouldn’t do much against an angry virtual ghost. Thankfully, Jeremie was already working on that.

 _“Alright, with this new program, I should be able to lower the charging times for your weapons,”_ he said, _“Yumi, your fans should be charged soon. As for Odd, it looks like your weapon’s in your wrists. I’m charging them up right now.”_

“My wrists?” Odd asked, placing his left hand on his hip before swinging his right arm upwards. Following that, a triangular blue shot of energy burst from it before exploding.

“Oh. So that’s my weapon!” Odd said in awe.

 _“A projectile weapon,”_ Jeremie said, _“a burst of ranged energy. I’d like to point out that right now, all of your weapons have limits before they need to re-charge, though I should hopefully be able to increase their limits and decrease the charging times further. Of course, if we survive this attack that is.”_

“Nice to be reminded of that.” Yumi muttered as she pulled out her two tessen fans. Opening them revealed their interior to be much like that of Ulrich’s katana, being made of binary code. “Just don’t aim those at the wrong target.”

 _“Burst of ranged energy? Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue very well...”_ Odd thought to himself

 _“Oh no, the specters noticed you guys, they’re heading up towards you!”_ Jeremie cried out.

At that moment, twenty specters rose over the top of the Tower, looking down at Yumi and Odd.

“Laser Arrow!” Odd cried out in surprise, blasting one of the ghosts to pieces with a second shot from his right wrist.

“Laser Arrow?” Yumi asked

“’Burst of ranged energy’ isn’t something that rolls off the tongue!” Odd called out to Yumi in response.

Given the fight they were engaged in, Yumi just nodded in acknowledgement, then let out a war cry as she launched her two tessen fans at the specters. Flying through the air like sawblades, the fans shredded a group of four specters, before returning to Yumi like they were boomerangs.

Now there were fifteen specters left, who all began to fly in more erratic patterns, sensing that they were fighting people who had longer-ranged weapons than a katana. The specters began to rise up higher in the air, with Odd and Yumi keeping their eyes on them. However, they didn’t notice another group of specters that were circling around the Tower behind them, moving subtly upwards towards the top of the Tower in a manner that not even Jeremie could catch on the monitor until it was too late.

As Odd watched the specters above him and Yumi, his eyes widened and the scene before him shifted. Instead of looking at the specters above him, he was now looking at the edge of the Tower top, upon which a small group of four specters flew out from underneath and from behind, rammed straight into him and Yumi, knocking them to the ground, which allowed the other specters to dogpile atop them, killing them instantly.

Odd shook his head briefly, and jumped around to look behind just as the specters attacked. Quickly, he shot several laser arrows at them, destroying them instantly.

“What the?” Yumi asked, confused at Odd’s sudden movements.

She then remembered the other specters, who were now flying downwards, trying to continue a dogpile attack that had already failed due to the loss of their prior ambush. Yumi threw her tessen fans again, and thanks to the specters grouping closer to each other, the arc of the fans did not miss their target, and ripped through most of the specters, destroying a total of ten. Three of the remaining five dove into the Tower, while the other two broke off their attack, flying above the ground away from the Tower’s edge.

Back in the lab, Jeremie gripped the keyboard tighter, feeling the shockwaves ripple through the factory.

“Be careful you guys!” he called, though he knew that calling out concerns would do nothing and he quickly went back to programming.

“Odd, what the heck just happened?” Yumi asked, looking out for more ghosts.

Odd was currently shaking his head vigorously, trying to get over the sudden adrenaline rush.

“I-I think I just had a vision of the future…” he muttered.

“A vision?” Yumi asked, still vigilant as the specters continued to lurk.

“Yeah, I saw some ghosts fly out from under the edge and ram into us. Then the others just dogpiled on us…I think I just saw us die…” he said, with a strange mix of horror and befuddlement on his face.

 _“I guess that’s your power, Anticipation,”_ Jeremie called out from the lab, _“you can see into the future for a brief amount of time, allowing you to see an enemy’s movements, and then counter them accordingly.”_

“This better not turn into The Dead Zone, I don’t want to have to see my own death every day!” Odd cried out in horror.

It was at that moment that Odd had another vision, this time one of the specters trying another surprise attack. 

Currently, the battle had shifted so that Odd and Yumi had gathered towards the edge of the Tower that was above the southern part of the lake in Xanadu, near the area where Ulrich had been when he had been virtualized earlier. The Tower itself stood atop the cavern area that Ulrich had been under earlier. The specters were gathering towards the edge that was above the green area that led to higher slopes of Xanadu. It was from here that Odd saw them attack him and Yumi, curving around and numbering about eight in number, moving in a spiral pattern to better avoid Odd and Yumi’s attacks.

Thankfully for Odd, he didn’t have to see anything gruesome like the specter pushing him off the edge of the Tower or Yumi being eaten alive by them.

As such, he was capable of pointing where exactly they were attacking from without panicking.

“Yumi, over there, they’re coming!” Odd cried out, pointing to the Tower edge that he had seen.

Sure enough, the specters rose, moving in their horizontal cyclonic attack pattern, until Yumi threw her tessen fans again, this time using her telekinesis to better guide them. Four of the eight specters found themselves cut to ribbons, and the remaining four flew in a more chaotic pattern, not capable of realizing what had happened. 

Odd, while still in shock, noticed that they were moving more slowly, and as Yumi’s tessen fans returned to her, he shot four more laser arrows, each of them hitting their mark.

“All right!” he cheered, feeling that he was starting to get the hang of this.

 _“It’s too soon to celebrate Odd, there’ll still plenty of specters left. Plus, your ammo supply might not be enough to take care of all of them.”_ Jeremie said.

“Wait, how many Laser Arrows do I have left?” Odd asked, worried that he might have left himself defenseless.

“ _From what I can see, you start off with thirty in each wrist. You’ve used up nine arrows in your right wrist, and seven in your left.”_ Jeremie replied.

“How long would it take for you to reload me?” Odd asked, still vigilant for more specters.

 _“This’ll be the first time I get to see how a recharge session goes for any of your weapons. It took about 50 seconds to charge up Ulrich’s sabre before I input that new program for you guys. Only took about 15 seconds for that. A recharge session should take about that amount of time.”_ Jeremie replied, until he saw that the specters were gearing up for another assault. Thankfully, he also saw a certain Samurai making a run-up. 

_“Ulrich’s coming in to help, but you’ve got another wave heading for you guys!”_ Jeremie called in.

This time, forty specters flew atop the Tower edge, preparing to swarm around Odd and Yumi like bees.

“Let’s hope he’s quick!” Yumi said.

Ulrich had been forced to make a few detours on his journey. First off, due to the position of the Tower and its cables, Ulrich had to run across the length of the lake, and climb up the forested slope so as to get to the flatter, higher level that the Tower itself was situated on. 

By reaching a fairly flat surface, Ulrich was able to build greater momentum with his super-sprint and use it to run up the Tower.

Thankfully, the specters were now focused on the Tower, allowing Ulrich to reach this area without much trouble. Jumping up the slope and using the Tower cables to reach the upper flat area, Ulrich was now running from the Tower, in order to get a good start. Ulrich took a deep breath, getting into a meditative stance. Ulrich closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then ran as fast as he could towards the Tower.

Zipping along at high-speeds, Ulrich planted his feet at the Tower’s vertical surface, and then proceeded to run up the Tower. Ulrich went faster and faster, trying to reach the top of the Tower in time and not fall down.

Several specters noticed him and went in for the attack, but Jeremie noticed them just in time.

 _“On your left! Specters!”_ Jeremie called out.

Ulrich turned around just in time, and built up more speed to force the specters to fly upwards in an attempt to intercept him. This however, just brought them into the perfect position for Ulrich to slash them and maintain his momentum. As they flew down, Ulrich, still holding his katana in his right hand, brought his blade behind his back, and then proceeded to cut the two specters attacking him in half in a single stroke.

While that was going on, Odd and Yumi had been dealing with the specter swarm. They now seemed to be forgoing strategy and were all just attacking at random. As such, it allowed Yumi to get several kills in, with a dozen specters shredded by her tessen fans. Odd had been less lucky, as the random flight patterns had caused him to miss several times, and he was out of laser arrows in his right wrist, and down to half of the ones in his left. He’d managed to kill off seven more specters, leaving a total of 21 to deal with.

As two more circled around the edge, they did so at the point where Ulrich had reached the top. The Towers chamfered at the top before outwardly extruding into a disk-like top. At this point, Ulrich jumped up over the ridge that formed here and was now over the full top of the Tower. Ulrich swung his sword again, slicing the two specters in half and causing them to dissolve. 

Ulrich landed on the Tower top and ran over to Odd and Yumi.

“You two okay?” he asked.

“Could be better.” Yumi grimaced, seeing that there were still nineteen specters hovering above them.

“I can see the future, somewhat. Yumi and Einstein call it Anticipation.” Odd said.

“Alright, so you guys are okay.” Ulrich said.

 _“Uh oh.”_ Jeremie murmured.

“What is it?” Yumi asked.

 _“The specters are gearing up for something big!”_ Jeremie warned.

Before Odd, Yumi, or Ulrich could ask what this something big was, the specters answered that question for them. All of them rose up high into the air, hovering above the top of the Tower, swarming around the virtual warriors like the winds of a tornado. 

It was clear that the ‘something big’ Jeremie mentioned was basically put, an all-out attack where the specters would fly at them and try to kill them via their superior numbers.

“…Oh crap.” Odd said, his jaw dropping open.

“Jeremie, how many of those things are there?” Yumi asked, having lost count.

 _“Um, a lot?”_ he replied nervously.

“Well, that’s really helpful.” Ulrich grunted.

Odd’s eyes had widened to the size of Kiwi’s dog bowl. Yumi definitely had not been kidding or joking when she said that there would have been a lot of specters. But saying that there was ‘a lot’ seemed to be a gross downplaying of the enormous swarm of specters that surrounded the group. Odd was about ready to wake up from this nightmare, when he had another vision, which only told him two things:

One, he was not dreaming.

Two, the specters were about to attack in pretty much every direction, attacking in a clockwise pattern, with one specter for each position.

“They’re coming!” Odd yelled out, turning around and shooting one of the attacking specters.

Yumi noticed the attack thanks to Odd’s warning, and threw out both of her fans. This time, she used her telekinesis to guide them, and the remaining eleven specters were quickly destroyed.

The specters kept up their assault. This time, a large number of them dived down from the top of their current flight pattern, breaking off into groups of six to attack the group. In addition to this, the specters attacked from a clockwise pattern again, this time with two specters in each position, and breaking off in joining the other groups to attack.

However, they reckoned without Jeremie.

 _“Another attack group! They’re trying to smother you guys!”_ he cried out.

“I’ve got this!” Ulrich cried out, activating his super-sprint and rushing around the Tower top.

With Ulrich running about like that, the specters trying to directly attack him had to group together in order to follow him. But with Ulrich running around the Tower, holding out his katana, he was able to cut apart the specters that were trying to surround the entire group. 

Ulrich made it about halfway around the Tower top until the six specters specifically going after him caught up with him. Ulrich managed to look up just in time, and jumped up into the air, turning his body around and taking several swipes at the attack group. Three of the attacking specters found themselves cut to ribbons, while the other three had to turn around.

Before they could strike Ulrich down, a rogue tessen fan cut into them, arced around, and hit two more specters that had been coming after Yumi. Five of the six specters that had gone after her had quickly been cut apart by her fans, and Yumi had managed to aim one of them at the remaining specters attacking Ulrich. 

Said fan had managed to destroy two of the specters, meaning that only one was left. Unfortunately, Yumi had to dodge this next attack, causing the specter to crash into the Tower and causing a tremor in the real world.

At the terminal, Jeremie was able to steady himself a tad better and then noticed that it was almost recharge time for the three virtual warriors.

Odd in particular, was in need of a reload. He’d been shooting at some of the specters attempting the gang-up tactic, leaving only six of them and forcing them to fly up into the air, having successfully scattered them. Unfortunately, this had cost him all of his Laser Arrows, and the specters planning to directly attack him had not decreased in the slightest, forcing him to flee.

“Einstein, reload me!” Odd cried out in a panic.

 _“I’m on it!”_ Jeremie called, hoping that his latest program had worked.

The six scattered specters split into two groups of three, trying to attack Ulrich and Yumi. However, it didn’t take long for the two to destroy them. But just like Odd, this came with a price, and their weapons’ binary forms disintegrated, leaving Yumi with two empty fan frames and Ulrich with a hilt.

“We need a recharge too Jeremie!” Yumi called out, “and fast!”

 _“Fifteen seconds, remember?”_ Jeremie asked, _“the recharge has started for all you, just hold ‘till then!”_

“Fifteen seconds, that’s like fifteen years over here!” Odd cried out, barely dodging a specter that had sped towards him, though unlike the previous specters, it flew over, not into, the Tower, and rejoined the attack group.

As for Ulrich and Yumi, a new attack group, consisting of ten specters each, came after them.

“Crap…” Ulrich muttered

 _“Ten seconds left!”_ Jeremie called, silently counting down the seconds.

_10, 9, 8…_

Odd had a vision of another sneak attack, jumping out of the way as a rogue specter flew at him, and crashed into the attack swarm coming at him. The seven specters moved about as if they were dizzy, only to recover and resume chasing Odd, who started running away on all fours like a cat.

 _“Great, now I’m starting to act like a cat…”_ he thought

_7, 6, 5, 4…_

Ulrich jumped in several directions, trying to make it so that the specters didn’t hit the Tower should they miss him. Yumi was attempting similar tactics, somersaulting several times in succession and sidestepping specter attacks, but without Ulrich’s super-sprint, she wasn’t having as much success, though she’d avoided having the Tower get hit. 

She was however, able to use her telekinesis to alter the movement of the specters somewhat so that they wouldn’t hit the Tower.

_3, 2, 1…_

In the end, all three children gathered up near one another.

“Lay to me straight, are we doomed?” Odd asked Yumi.

In that instant, Ulrich’s sabre and Yumi’s fans regained their blue structures.

 _“Nope!”_ Jeremie called out cheerfully.

“Yes!” Odd cried out in joy, turning around and shooting down the seven specters that had been chasing him with his right arm’s Laser Arrows.

Ulrich quickly dashed to the other side of the Tower, causing the specters to split off their attack group. But since Odd was no longer being chased down, three specters from the remaining two groups gathered together and split off in order to attack him again.

But when you’ve been gaining experience in fighting phantoms like these for about a month, decreasing your numbers when your abilities aren’t that advanced is a rather stupid thing to do.

The seven specters attacking Yumi opened their mouths, which just allowed Yumi to throw her fans along the weak points created in their jaws. In no time flat, the specters exploded into blue dust.

As for Ulrich, he jumped into the air and slashed down two specters. Just like before, the remaining five turned around to attack him again, but since there were no longer enough specters to try a surrounding strategy, they found Ulrich running around them in a circle, before closing in on them and cutting them all down.

The next six specters attacked Odd, who shot at them with both of his hands. All six specters found themselves blown apart quite quickly, though Odd’s poor aim had depleted his ammo storage.

 _“You’re going to need some target practice Odd.”_ Jeremie noticed as he activated the recharge program for Odd.

“Cut me some slack, I’m new at this!” Odd panted, “how many of them are left? Please tell me we beat them all!”

“Still a few left.” Ulrich said, looking up.

Indeed, the number of specters had decreased drastically. Their reckless attacks hadn’t done them much good. Now, only eighteen of them were left to attack. They seemed hesitant at first, merely hovering above the Tower, just out of range for Yumi’s fans while Odd’s arrow stock reloaded. 

Finally, they made a decision, and flew closer to one another, before diving down in nine groups of two, flying in an intertwining pattern.

“It’s the last stretch now!” Yumi called out, throwing her tessen fans at the specters.

The first group did not have much luck, as both of Yumi’s tessen fans ripped the duo apart.

The second group flew at Ulrich twice, but on their second passing, Ulrich parried their attack with his sabre, and the two flew apart from each other and stopped, giving Ulrich enough time to slash both of them apart.

The third group went after Odd, only for the boy’s Laser Arrows to finish reloading. Odd had a vision of the specters smashing into him, and moved out of the way, and by instinct, fired his Laser Arrows, destroying the specter duo.

And so it went this way, and before long, the remaining specters were destroyed.

Odd lay down on the Tower top, panting heavily.

“Is it over now?” he asked.

 _“That’s the last of them.”_ Jeremie called out.

“You sure about that? This attack came out pretty fast compared to the last one. I bet I missed one last night, that’s why we had to come back so soon…” Yumi muttered.

 _“Good point Yumi. Ulrich, you check to see if any specters are left over. Once you’ve rested enough, Yumi, use your telekinesis to get Ulrich down to one of the wires so he can do some recon.”_ Jeremie called.

“And me?” Odd called, getting up shakily.

 _“You’re coming back right now.”_ Jeremie said, typing in the commands to rematerialize Odd.

Odd then disappeared from Xanadu, as Yumi and Ulrich caught their breath, getting ready to make sure that they didn’t leave behind a lone specter.

In the factory, the center scanner closed its doors, and then opened up again, revealing a gasping and exhausted Odd, who gripped the side of the scanner door as tightly as he could. After taking a few quick breaths, Odd took several slower, deeper ones, until he was sure that he was somewhat relaxed. The new recruit staggered out of the scanner, and slowly walked down the stairs.

At the bottom, he found Kiwi having returned to taking a nap, and Jeremie wiping his glasses.

Jeremie swiveled on his chair and looked at Odd.

“If you want lunch, there’s a mini-fridge and microwave further down there.” He said, pointing at the other side of the area.

Odd followed Jeremie’s finger, and walked away from the computer crook until turning to his left and locating, next to a pipe, a small refrigerator and a microwave, just as Jeremie said. Opening it, Odd saw a pizza box, and opening that revealed half of a sausage pizza, about a day old.

“Food!” Odd called out exhaustedly, smiling in relief about seeing something normal.

Odd looked at the shelf below the one the pizza box was on, and found a paper plate. Odd immediately placed two pizza slices on the plate, and heated them up in the microwave, pushing out his current thoughts in favor of focusing on the food.

Once it was heated up, Odd consumed the two pizza slices instantly. He’d always been a fast eater, but he was surprised at how hungry he was, even by his normal standards.

“Is there a trash can over here?” he asked, poking his head around the corner.

“Just next to the microwave.” Jeremie called out.

Odd looked over to the right of the microwave, crumpled up the plate, threw it into the trash can, and walked back over to Jeremie.

“Okay, now that…that’s all over, you mind explaining all of this to me?” Odd asked Jeremie, flumping on the couch.

“It’s a long story, but yeah, it’s a lot to talk about.” Jeremie said.

And so, the bespectacled boy began his tale, revealing to Odd just what it was that they had all gotten into. While Jeremie spoke, Odd wondered about how his life had suddenly gotten interesting, but at the same time, wondered just what it was that he’d gotten mixed up into…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, the start of the long road ahead has begun! 
> 
> Next time, behold the two-part origin of the Xanadu Warriors! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!


	2. The Children Who Present Cinema

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day for the students of Kadic in the year 2001 proceeds from afternoon to evening to night seemingly normal...but as some people start to build connections with others...something unusual begins to lurk in the background...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of 2 in our prequel arc! Which did NOT take me three months to get out this time 'round!
> 
> This is an edited version of the chapter that is on FF.net. It will be uploaded there after File 6.2 is uploaded (And hopefully ON July 9. Cross your fingers!)
> 
> The thanks to those who looked over this chapter several years ago and offered assistance with the first edits remain. And many thanks to those new readers who have come across it!

_ Garage Kids _

File 2 – The Children Who Present Cinema

Kadic Academy is a private school located in the suburb of Boulogne Billancourt. First built in 1905, the school has operated for many years. Before 1994, the campus, as did many buildings throughout Paris, held the common varied influences that had stood the test of time, showing off all sorts of work and effort throughout history that would make the mouths of both architects and artists foam with awe at the grand history of a metropolis linked to the past and future.

However, in 1994, reports had gotten out of a radiation leak that had originated in Boulogne Billancourt, apparently having come from a government attempt to experiment on new varieties of nuclear energy. A mass evacuation of Paris and its suburbs was called in, and many citizens feared that they now had their own version of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. The disaster zone spread over the course of a week, causing many civilians to panic and riot, with no one believing the government’s claims that the disaster would pass.

But at the end of the week, it was in fact determined that a crisis had been averted, and the government reported that the threat of the accident had been neutralized. Even better, it was determined by experts that the area would be safe to live in again, though it would require extensive reconstruction.

Civilians began moving back in after a year of waiting for the work to finish, during and after which many rumors surrounded the events that had occurred. Many people had their suspicions about the accident, and to this day, all sorts of rumors and theories of what really happened crop up on the internet, but as with all conspiracy theories, inconsistencies and rebuttals are common, and are ultimately topics to be covered on another day.

As for the areas that had been adversely affected by the mysterious leak, a massive influx of construction work had to be dealt with as the time came to rebuild a devastated infrastructure. Several Japanese construction companies came in to help out the workload. While efforts by councilmen and historians managed to ensure that several buildings would be restored to their former glory, just as many had to be torn down and rebuilt into a style of uniform conformity, as the Japanese companies utilized techniques of durability native to their home country, but had no particular interest in preserving or rebuilding that which had been destroyed, just as a mass emigration of Japanese people into the new infrastructure began.

Other companies, some of a dubious reputation, such as the computer company Deckard Inc., assisted with the rebuilding of the infrastructure by using the disaster as an opportunity to upgrade the computer networks that ran through the country. This was just one out of many developments that fueled speculation about what would be known as the “Billancourt Panic”. Regardless, after a period of two years, Paris was rebuilt, but the city had changed.

The atmosphere of the great metropolis had darkened significantly, with a larger number of delinquents and hoodlums being but one of many domestic troubles for the police to deal with. And it seemed contagious to boot, all over the world people noticed that a certain kind of atmosphere had descended upon them, and those who had a keen eye for details noticed that Paris, the city of lights, was now the center of a gloom that seemed to grip the world.

Of course, life went on as normal, as humans usually proceed, just with a few changes in the world’s communication networks and corporations, along with new trends that seem to pop up every few years or so as has always been the historical case. In the end, most people failed to notice or care and went on with their daily routines as if nothing had happened.

This included France, and after a few years of adjustment, life for most people went back to normal in the country. For something of a given measure of normal, anyways...

Back to Kadic, the school was one of the facilities that had been radically altered by the foreign companies. Most of the original buildings were demolished, and their exteriors changed to resemble that of a plain Japanese junior high school. Before their work could finish, domestic companies managed to step in before the campus’ interiors were completely changed over to some dull, generic, and stale environment.

Of Kadic’s buildings, one of the few that had not been totally demolished had been the lunchrooms, whose exteriors only received a repaint, and ended up being one of the few recognizable structures for returning faculty and students.

It was in these lunchrooms, on a Saturday afternoon, that Jeremie Belpois was sitting down. He had just finished his meal, and was currently typing up a rudimentary program for one of his robots.

Jeremie was exactly the sort of person that you would consider to be a nerd. Wearing glasses, a plain blue shirt, and capri pants, he was completely focused in his studies and was obsessed with technology. Other than that, to most people on campus, he wasn’t exactly the type to try and stand out. 

The person who had pulled up a seat across from him, finishing up his own lunch, was another story, though not of the ‘complete opposite’ type.

This person, a boy in Jeremie’s grade, was Ulrich Stern. Wearing a dark yellow-green shirt over a light yellow-green vest, followed by a pair of cargo pants, he was quiet, reserved, and a tad stoic. Unlike Jeremie, studying did not come easy to him, but speaking from personal experience, when a parent puts so much stress on their child to study, you tend to not be able to focus on those studies. As such, Ulrich was more focused on martial arts, which he seemed to have quite a knack for.

Jeremie finished the program he was typing up, and closed his laptop. Stretching his arms, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

“Yo, Belpois.” A boy said.

Jeremie turned around, and Ulrich turned his attention to the boy standing at their table.

“Hey Sebastian.” Jeremie replied.

Sebastian was tall, lanky, and tan-skinned. He was bald for the most part, aside from a flat patch of dark-brown hair on the top of his head. He wore a plain white t-shirt, over a dark-green undershirt, along with a pair of plain-black shorts and a pair of black-and-blue sneakers. At Kadic, he had the reputation for being the ‘street kid’ due to how he tended to wander the town alleyways in his free-time, and tended to call people by their last names rather than their firsts, even if he knew them well.

“You said that you’d be using that robot of yours to help fix the film projector today. I have to ask though, why? Can’t you just fix it with your bare hands?” he asked. “You’ve done it before, why the sudden urge to experiment?”

Jeremie pushed his glasses into place.

“Well, I’ve been wanting to test out my miniature robots for a while now. You do know that in less than six weeks, we’ve got that robotics competition coming up. I want to win that competition, so I figure I might as well test my robot’s grappling capabilities by fixing up the movie projector with one of them.” He replied.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, “you’d better not damage my film reels. Those things are my babies, and I don’t want your babies hurting my babies, you got that?”

“As a man of engineering, I swear I will not damage your film reels,” Jeremie replied, raising his hand, “if the robot won’t work, I’ll fix up the projector by hand like I always do.”

He then snapped his fingers, remembering something.

“Speaking of which, you know of any new places that I could use for parts?” Jeremie asked, “I’ve been thinking about scavenging more extra parts around town. I’ve heard rumors of plenty of spots that are a tech guy’s dream.”

Sebastian put his hand to his chin, deep in thought. Belpois had been made aware of the grungy street culture of Boulogne Billancourt last year, but had contented himself with official channels when it came to his experiments. The Street Kid had personally dreaded the day when temptation would finally strike the computer genius, and had filed a few locations in mind preparing for the inevitable.

“Well, you could try one of the junkyards. There’s loads of stuff there. I’ve heard about people who scavenge around in those places. I once saw some freckly guy in a green sweater haul out a bunch of stuff.” He mused.

“What kind of stuff?” Jeremie asked, hungry for information.

“Didn’t pay close enough attention to it, but I’m sure that there’s some robot parts. Those ‘rumors’ about all of the computer and robot junk are all true after all. A lot of people have some secret high-tech parts being traded and sold around here and there.” Sebastian replied, before shuddering as he remembered some of the more...extreme places. “To be honest, it’s sometimes more than a little creepy with some of that stuff…”

“Speaking of those rumors, what about…the old factory?” Jeremie asked after a pause.

Sebastian’s eyes widened in horror. “Dude, please don’t tell me you’ve been on one of those conspiracy sites.”

“I just found out about it after some searching on the internet.” Jeremie replied. “It’s one of those rumors surrounding the Billancourt Panic. That accident from seven years ago. One theory on the site that actually seems to make sense is noting that ever since the incident, there’s been loads of advances in information technology.” The boy then pushed his glasses into place, failing to hide his curiosity. “That, coupled with all of the street activities I’ve heard about…it just made me curious.”

Sebastian grimaced. Being familiar with the town alleyways, he knew very well that the activities that people claimed to be rumors were true. He knew all about the worst of the lot that lived in the seedy underbelly of Paris, and had thus seen all kinds of shady and suspicious people roaming around, some dressed in clothing right out of the Matrix, while others looked completely normal, only to reveal that they were anything but. The boy had made it a personal point to stay away from them and their activities as it were.

And as for the old factory on the Ile Seguin? That place, while it looked fairly harmless, something about it sent shivers up Sebastian’s spine. He’d been there a few times, but had never dared try to find a way in. He couldn’t put his finger on what exactly scared him about the place, but then again, Sebastian wouldn’t deny being superstitious either. He remembered that as a kid, he tended to believe the ghost stories that he’d heard a lot, a tendency that he hadn’t quite shaken off yet, so that may have been the reason why the Renault factory creeped him out. In fact,  _ no-one _ in town seemed willing to go near it for too long, the place set off  _ that  _ many internal warning signs to ‘Get Away’.

Sebastian looked at Jeremie.

“Dude, if you want me to give you a tour of the places you’ll want to go to, I’ll do it, but there’s something off about that place. I don’t know why, but it gives me the creeps. If you want to go there, I won’t stop you, but you’d be better off going through all of the junkyards or alleyways than by taking your chances with the creepy abandoned factory.” He said.

Ulrich then spoke up for the first time, “it doesn’t look that creepy to me.”

“If you’ve been where I’ve been Stern, and heard some of the ghost stories that the hobos and other people bring up, then that place would start looking a little creepy.” Sebastian rebuffed firmly.

“Either case, today, I’ll be moving my robot parts into the underpass. My room’s getting cluttered really bad, and Jim’s been wanting me to clean it up. I’ll work on the robot I’ll be using on the film projector, and if everything turns out alright, we’ll be able to watch a nice flick tonight.” Jeremie said.

“Speaking of ‘nice flicks’, I’ve got a short film and a longer one lined up for tonight.” Sebastian replied.

“Reasons for that particular selection?” Jeremie asked.

“If you looked up at the sky instead of your computer screen Belpois, you’d see that we might be due for some rain tonight. I’ve got the short film so we can have  _ some _ entertainment tonight if the repairs take too long and we get hit with rain. On the other hand, if we get caught in it, then the longer film will make sure we all don’t die of boredom waiting for it to pass.” Sebastian answered.

“Ah. So, who’s coming to tonight’s gathering?” Jeremie asked.

“The usual. Milly, Tamiya, Amare, Hugo, and Charlie." Sebastian answered, before looking at Ulrich critically. "Though, we do have a new contender tonight.”.

“You do know I’ve been to the previous movie nights right?” Ulrich asked, suspicious of the look on Sebastian’s face.

“I didn’t mean you Stern, I meant Ishiyama. You know, the Japanese goth chick you’re into?” Sebastian replied.

If Ulrich had been drinking anything, he would have had an enormous spit-take. For now, all he could do was widen his eyes and balk.

“Wh-what, no, no, I mean…what do you mean I’m into her…I mean…uh…” he muttered.

“Dude, it’s so obvious you’re into her.” A new voice said.

Ulrich turned his head to see two new people arrive to the table.

One, who was also the boy who had stated that Ulrich had a crush, was a dark-skinned boy with a crew-cut of black hair. He wore a blue jacket over a white undershirt and a pair of blue sweatpants. Next to him was a slightly shorter lighter-skinned lad with a navy blue cap who wore a red sweatshirt and tan trousers. 

“Amare, I am not into Yumi!” Ulrich hissed.

“Suure you aren’t.” Amare replied sarcastically. "And my grandma definitely isn't crazy."

“I’m not!” Ulrich insisted, failing to convince everyone who had gathered around.

“Dude, we’ve all seen how you act around her.” The other boy, who was named Hugo, teased.

“I don’t act all that different!” Ulrich replied, gritting his teeth.

“You’re on the defensive right now, denying it like some nervous wreck, instead of replying with a stoic ‘no’.” Hugo countered.

“Plus, I remember that when Jim starting holding that Pencrack Silt class-!“Amare began.

“Pencak Silat!” Ulrich corrected, becoming very annoyed with the current situation.

“Whatever, you apparently got your ass kicked by Ishiyama. You acted like some whiny grouch, and no one knew why Mr. Quiet became Mr. Snappy-priss until Milly and her big mouth chanced to ask Ishiyama about what happened. We all put two and two together after that.” Amare finished.

“Just drop it okay?” Ulrich growled, picking up his tray and leaving the table to sit somewhere else.

“Incredible, he goes from amiable and silent to nervous and crabby whenever the topic of his crush comes up.” Amare commented after Ulrich left and was out of earshot.

“It’s the power of love. It’s unpredictable and annoying. He’d better make a move on Ishiyama soon. I’ve seen that flirt Dunbar from Asimov Institution in action before. If he enters the picture at any point, I can just sense the disaster that’ll occur.” Sebastian muttered.

“Ah, love triangles, one of the great perks of romance.” Hugo chuckled.

Sebastian could not help but shoot the blue-capped boy an offended glare. “You mean the most annoying thing to read or watch. It really drains out the plot if the story isn’t set up as a romance novel or film, it takes up too much screen time!” Sebastian growled, “I mean, seriously, way too many stories fall into that trap whenever they bring in the romance, it’s so annoying!”

“So, I’m going to guess what got ruled out for today’s screening.” Jeremie chuckled along with Amare and Hugo.

“Don’t laugh you three, it’s a plague upon the world’s media! It’s the reason why Solovieff and Diop are not going to be seeing any romance films until Stern works out his feelings with Ishiyama.” Sebastian said.

“Wait, what?” Hugo asked, his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“The reason Ishiyama’s coming to tonight’s film screening is because Solovieff managed to convince her to drop by. I know because Solovieff dragged Ishiyama over to me and told me about her joining our little renegade film club. After talking with Ishiyama about it, I made sure to tell Solovieff that until Stern and Ishiyama either tie the knot or lose interest in each other, that no romance films will be shown, and that no snide comments are to made on the films that might have some romance in them.” Sebastian explained.

“Well, that’s pretty thorough.” Amare commented.

“When it comes to film and writing, I’m like Belpois over here with his computer coding, no specifics left out, everything needs to be explained in full detail.” Sebastian replied.

“And typed out too.” Jeremie put in, having opened up his laptop to do a review of some of the lines of code he had typed up while everyone else was talking.

“Either case, are any you guys up for helping me move all of my robot parts out of my dorm room today?” he asked.

Hugo and Amare shook their heads.

“We’ve got baseball practice on our hands.” Amare said.

“I’ve still got some pictures to deal with in photography. Plus, I need to double check the film reels and make sure they’re ready. Sorry Belpois, my schedule’s full. However, I can tell you that the film projector is still in the underpass, ready for fixing.” Sebastian said.

“Or breaking in case your little bots make things worse.” He muttered under his breath.

Jeremie looked over to a corner at the other end of the lunchroom, where Ulrich had taken his new seat.

“Guess that leaves one option.” He sighed.

“Good luck.” Sebastian grunted, leaving the table.

Amare and Hugo waved good-bye and followed suit. As for Jeremie, he closed his laptop, tucked it under his right shoulder, and walked over to Ulrich’s new location.

“So, you up for moving a lot of boxes filled with metal and wires?” Jeremie asked.

“Buzz off.” Ulrich grunted.

Jeremie rolled his eyes, “I’m not planning on grilling you about Yumi, Ulrich. Whatever happens, happens.” He said.

Ulrich looked up, glaring at Jeremie.

“Look, I’m just asking for a small favor, I need to get my robots out of the dorms before Jim brings down his hammer, and since it’s Saturday and we have no classes for the afternoon, we should have time.” Jeremie said, not flinching from Ulrich’s attempt at a death glare.

Ulrich growled, but since he had nothing better to do for the rest of the day, he might as well kill some time. In any case, Jeremie wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who would rib on someone incessantly. If his tech projects ever came up, he’d focus on those, and not any kind of what Sebastian called soap opera drama.

“Fine.” Ulrich mumbled, going back to his lunch.

“All right, I’ll be in my dorm room cleaning stuff up, see you soon.” Jeremie said, turning to leave the cafeteria.

After walking across the courtyard and entering the dormitories building, Jeremie reached what Jim had questioned to be a garbage dump, even though Jeremie called it his room.

The bed was not very well made, if at all, and boxes of circuit boards, small rubber tires, wires, and all kinds of components were stacked haphazardly around the room. Books, instruction manuals, and computer magazines lay across the floor, and the clothing drawers were filled with unfolded shirts, socks, and underwear. A small blue equipment cart that Jeremie had used on occasion stood next to his bed, which he planned to use to transport some of his boxes. The only place that had some organization was Jeremie’s computer desk, and even that had CD-ROM cases strewn in a disorganized manner, along with empty soda cans and chip bags. The rolling chair that he sat down on even had his bed pillow on it!

Jim had been completely perplexed about how a model student like Jeremie could have such a messy room, and ordered him to have it in order by the end of Saturday afternoon so that it could be checked for approval on Sunday. Since the deadline afternoon was today, Jeremie was on a fairly tight schedule.

“Well, this is going to be fun…” Jeremie groaned quietly, analyzing the situation.

Cleaning up the actual trash would be simple, as that would just require Jeremie picking up the litter of cans, small bags, and crumpled papers filled with incorrect calculations, put it into an empty box, and then dump that into a trash can. Folding his clothes and making his bed, likewise, would not be difficult either.

What would actually pose something of a challenge would be organizing his equipment. Jeremie had not organized his resources properly, given how much tech he had acquired. He needed to make sure that his computer disks were in the correct cases to start with, since he didn’t want to upload an incorrect program, nor have to start all over with writing a new one.

As for the boxes of robot parts and computer equipment, that would prove to be the real challenge. He had more than the equipment cart could carry, and there were wires, LEDs, and batteries scattered on the floor, just to name a few parts. Not only that, but Jeremie didn’t know if he’d mixed up the parts for his robots or his computer in the boxes.

Deciding to take on each problem one at a time, Jeremie quickly got to work to tidy up his room, and by the time Ulrich had arrived, Jeremie was now left with only the computer equipment to organize. Currently, his head was underneath his deck, picking up an empty CD-ROM case.

“How much of this stuff do you have?” Ulrich asked, having come into Jeremie’s room silently.

Jeremie tried to look upwards, only to bump his head on the desk.

“Ow!” he cried, getting out from under the desk and looking at Ulrich with slight annoyance.

“Always have to come in silently don’t you?” Jeremie muttered, rubbing his head.

Ulrich shrugged quietly in response.

“Alright,” Jeremie began, after feeling his skull over, “I’ve cleaned up the trash –! “

“You mean this stuff isn’t trash?” Ulrich asked, picking up an adapter card.

“No! It’s my computer equipment, along with all the parts for my robots. This is the stuff we need to move out of here before Jim pays my room a visit tomorrow.” Jeremie replied, before realizing something.

“I am wondering why he’s waiting until Sunday to check it though, he’s more punctual with his dorm inspections than this.” He commented.

“I know why,” Ulrich said, “it’s the reason I don’t have Pencak Silat practice this evening. Apparently, Jim’s T.V. exploded last night, and he’s looking into seeing a repairman for his room.”

“His television exploded? And then damaged his room? How does that work?” Jeremie asked.

“I don’t know. I ran into Jim earlier today, and the guy just said, ‘No Pencak Silat practice today Stern! My room exploded, and I’ve been having a hell of a time getting a repairman!’, before he walked away muttering about all of the repairmen being busy or something.” Ulrich answered, making a bad impression of Jim’s voice when giving the gym teacher’s explanation.

“I somehow doubt that Jim’s room exploded…” Jeremie deadpanned.

“I took a look there, it makes your room look like the Taj Mahal,” Ulrich said, “for once he wasn’t exaggerating or saying that he didn’t want to talk about it.”

Jeremie raised an eyebrow, then took another look around his own room.

“Well then, guess that makes me lucky on that front. Give me a moment to look through the boxes.” Jeremie said, kneeling down to check the contents of the boxes.

“Why? Can’t we just stuff them in the cart over there?” Ulrich asked.

“Yes and no. I’d like to have more time to organize all of this, but for now, I need to make sure that I get most of the parts of my robots out of the room. My computer equipment, I want to keep in here for now. Plus, if we’re going to be moving parts down to our little hideout, we’d have to make a lot of time-consuming trips, and if Sebastian was right about the weather, we’re only going to be able to make two trips at most, and then build the robot I want to have fix up the film projector.” Jeremie answered.

“Or you could just fix it up by hand. That sounds easier.” Ulrich commented.

“Easier? Maybe, but for science, I prefer to go the complicated route!” Jeremie exclaimed, looking at a box filled with motherboards.

Ulrich rolled his eyes, and waited for Jeremie to finish his inventory. After about ten minutes of quick searching and organized, Jeremie stood up, and pushed his glasses into place.

“Okay, I’m going to take this empty box over here,” Jeremie began, holding up an empty white container, “and put all of the broken junk on the floor into it. While I do that, put as many of the boxes next to my dresser into the cart. Watch out for small objects!”

“You do realize I’m wearing shoes right?” Ulrich asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot…Either way, let’s get to it!” Jeremie said in a manner bit too eager for Ulrich’s tastes, given that they were just cleaning up a dorm room.

Ulrich walked over a few scattered wires, and immediately began moving the boxes onto the cart. Once enough boxes that could safely transported were put onto it, Jeremie looked over the situation as it was. He had finished up picking up the miscellaneous objects, and now looked at the remaining boxes. The situation, after some organizing, was better than he thought. The equipment cart held a little less than half of the boxes, meaning that they could in fact be done with the clean-up in two or three trips, if Ulrich carried one or two more boxes on the way.

“Okay, now, I need you to pick up…Let’s say, that box over there.” Jeremie said, directing Ulrich to a box filled with metal scraps.

Ulrich grunted as he lifted the box.

Jeremie took one last look around the room.

“Alright, let’s go.” He said, taking the cart handle and pulling the cart with him.

Ulrich followed behind, and the two began to navigate down the hallways. Eventually, the two boys exited the school premises and began their trek towards their secret hideaway. Said hideaway was within an old underpass located deep in the city, but thankfully had several entrances, one of which was not too far away from Kadic. Said entrance was located just a few turns away from the streets leading to Kadic, and it was here that Jeremie and Ulrich navigated their way through the dark passageways, lit up by the fluorescent lights that helped people navigate their way through the tunnels.

The two boys turned through several corners, walking through the maze-like corridors, through hallways that had not seen usage for quite some time, and after an additional turn, the two made it to the room they were looking for. Their little movie-room.

This area was square in shape, and fairy large. Not too roomy, but not suffocating. It was large enough to hold at least two dozen kids. The walls were covered in graffiti, though the ones at the front of the room, which was located to the left of the entrance that Jeremie and Ulrich had come through, were covered up by a large sheet, pinned up to serve as a projector screen. The room was littered with pillows and blankets, with the occasional plastic cup that had not been cleaned up from the previous visit. A few drawings, done on very large sheets of paper, were hung up in several places on the ceiling vents, along with a red curtain drape. 

At the back of the room was the film projector. Sebastian had obtained it during the last months of the school year before any of the other kids had come to Kadic, and this is where he had kept it for several months. It was up to Jeremie right now, to fix it with the robot that he was about to build and test out.

Besides the film projector were several trash bags that needed to be taken out in the back left corner, while the right corner held a wooden cupboard stocked with supplies for whenever someone wanted a snack if needed.

Jeremie pulled the equipment card over to the film projector and started moving boxes of equipment to the floor. Ulrich put down the box he was carrying next to the cart and looked over the room.

“I really don’t see how all of this is going to fit in here Jeremie. It’s going to get cramped. Really cramped.” Ulrich noted dryly.

“I know that. The boxes that we picked out earlier have the parts I need to test my robot design.” Jeremie responded.

“That doesn’t really answer my question.” Ulrich deadpanned.

“We’ve got other rooms here you know. There’s one I’ve had my eye on in our turf, not too far away. That’s the room I’ve been talking to Sebastian about. It’ll be the perfect place to build my later robots.” Jeremie explained.

“And I’m the lucky guy who gets to move the rest of your stuff there?” Ulrich asked sarcastically.

“Hit the nail on the head.” Jeremie smirked, looking over the film projector.

“Alright, where is this room?” Ulrich asked.

“I’ll show you,” Jeremie said, walking out of the film room.

Ulrich followed Jeremie down several more corridors, until they reached a room not too dissimilar from the film area. The obvious difference, besides the graffiti on the wall, was that the room was almost completely bare aside from a few cushions tucked away in a corner, as well as the fact that this room was a tad larger.

“I’m going to be honest. I’m not impressed.” Ulrich said.

“It might not look like much for now, but trust me when I say that when I’m through with it, this place will be my personal laboratory!” Jeremie cackled gleefully.

“…You’re a regular mad scientist.” Ulrich said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Eh, I try. While I work on my robot and the film projector, I need you to transport the rest of my equipment here. You okay with that?” Jeremie asked.

“I guess.” Ulrich said quietly, mulling over what was going to happen that night.

Jeremie shrugged and the two boys parted ways. It was quiet over the next few hours. Ulrich went back and forth between Jeremie’s dorm room and the underpass several times as he moved Jeremie’s equipment. At first, it went rather well, with no slip-ups or any troublesome encounters. But then, when Ulrich had the last load in the equipment cart, and was heading down the pathway towards Kadic’s gates, he saw three individuals that he really did not want to see.

All three were girls, and were of special interest to Ulrich. Two of them he wanted to hit over the head with their own newspaper, and the third was someone that he felt…complicated towards, for lack of a better word.

One of the girls had red hair, the back of which had two pigtails held together by blue barrettes, and wore a pale pink coat over a long maroon shirt. She wore brown stockings and a pair of boots. In addition to this, she was also carrying a teddy bear. This girl was named Amelia, but everyone called her Milly.

The other girl, wearing an orange necklace, was dark-skinned, and wore her black hair in cornrows, as well as wearing a yellow shirt over a black t-shirt, along with baggy green pants that stopped halfway below her knee and a pair of white shoes. This girl was Tamiya, who, along with Milly, was a writer for the Kadic News.

However, it was the third girl, the tall, Japanese one with short black hair, wearing a black sweater that exposed her midriff, along with black pants and black boots that was of interest to him. Yumi Ishiyama, the girl that he admittedly did have a crush on.

Ulrich had met Yumi shortly after the year had started up. He hadn’t taken much notice of her at first, aside from a few glances that made him feel extremely nervous whenever he took her into detail. Then, when Jim had started holding Pencak Silat classes a few weeks after classes started, Ulrich was interested in learning a new kind of martial arts technique. Karate was nice, but there was something about Pencak Silat that intrigued him. He’d started practicing Pencak Silat for a while on his own, so he figured that having a teacher would be nice.

He’d reckoned without Yumi however, who had also shown up to the class, and was also the only other student there.

And he’d also not been able to reckon that she’d completely mop the floor with him.

That had been his first encounter with the dark-haired Japanese girl and ever since then, Ulrich tried to keep his distance, except whenever it came to Pencak Silat classes. There, he had sparred with Yumi as her partner, and he had to admit, she was good. Really good. Incredibly skilled, not too bad on the eyes…

Ulrich then immediately shook his head, trying to stop himself from thinking anymore about Yumi. So what if he had something of an attraction to her? That didn’t mean he was into her, after all, he never really spoke to her outside of Pencak Silat class, and besides, what were the chances that Yumi felt anything towards him?

Ulrich’s train of thought was interrupted when he heard Tamiya call up to him.

“Ulrich, wait up!” she called.

Ulrich tried to stay as calm as possible as he turned around. He’d walked past Yumi and the reporters, and now they were heading over to him, with Milly pulling Yumi on the arm, as if she was dragging the black-haired girl against her will.

Tamiya walked up to Ulrich, with Milly following behind, comically dragging Yumi over to them.

“What do you want?” Ulrich asked with a low growl of impatience, trying to avert directly looking at Yumi.

The three girls looked at the cart.

“Why do you have a cart full of Jeremie’s robot stuff?” Tamiya asked.

“He’s having me move his junk over to the underpass while he goes all Frankenstein on Sebastian’s movie projector.” Ulrich answered, keeping his guard up.

“I still think it’s stupid that Sebastian won’t let us watch any romance movies.” Tamiya pouted, gripping her teddy bear and Yumi’s left hand more tightly.

“Uh, yeah…” Ulrich and Yumi muttered.

The two then realized that they had spoken at the same time and diverted their attention to the ground.

Milly quietly snickered to herself, with a devilish glint lit in her young eyes.

“Okay,” Tamiya said, finding the sexual tension between Ulrich and Yumi hilarious, “we’re actually showing Yumi where the underpass is. She hasn’t really gotten around town much, so we’re showing her all of the cool places here.”

“I could just find them myself,” Yumi said, closing her eyes and smiling awkwardly, “I could just buy a map, ask around, mark some places on the map…”

“But this way is more fun! Come on! Let’s follow Ulrich!” Milly said, eyes lightening up.

“I’d uh…” Ulrich stuttered, pulling his shirt collar nervously.

“Oh come on, what’s the worst that could happen?” Tamiya asked, smirking cheekily.

Both Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other for a moment, before averting their eyes again and rubbing the back of their heads sheepishly.

“Well…” Yumi began, but she didn’t get the chance to finish that thought, since before she could think of anything morbid, Ulrich took off.

“After him!” Milly commanded.

“You do realize that he’s still in hearing range, right?” Tamiya asked.

Indeed, Ulrich was really able to just fast-walk thanks to the load he was pulling and could thus still eavesdrop on the conversation behind him.

_ “Just ignore the press, ignore them, don’t think about Yumi.” _ Ulrich thought…

Only for an image of Yumi standing in front of him to pop up.

_ “Damn it!”  _ Ulrich cursed internally, resisting the urge to blush.

Ulrich tried to not look behind as he made his way to the underpass. He was almost tempted to try to make an escape, but the presence of his cargo, coupled with the rather short distance to travel, would make that difficult. He also did not want to think about what would happen if Jeremie found out that his tech was missing or late. The bespectacled lad had an even temper, but his tendency to behave like a mad scientist put Ulrich on guard. Best not to become Jeremie’s next science project.

All the way to Ulrich’s destination, he could hear Milly’s pestering towards Yumi, and he tried not to eavesdrop on it.

Yumi, in the meantime, tried to block out Milly’s ramblings.

She’d come to the academy completely new. She had a good grasp of French, not even having an accent, but hadn’t made many friends. It was natural, considering how often her family moved, and how people like her were treated by those nostalgic for the “Good Old Days”. It really was annoying that her dad’s company didn’t seem to figure out where to station him, but she really hoped that this would be the last time that she’d have to move. Yumi had hoped to remain a day student, but due to the current circumstances, she had to enroll into Kadic as a boarder. Thankfully, she found Kadic to have a much more welcoming atmosphere than most of the other schools she’d attended while living in France.

She’d gotten along decently enough with her classmates, no bullying from anyone for once, though, then again, she remembered how she dealt with such people, forcing them to either stay away from her or stick to verbally harassing her. Yumi shook those thoughts out of her head, no need to think back to  _ those _ days. It helped, of course, that she stuck to minimizing contact with the other students so as to avoid that problem in the first place.

She then remembered her own first encounters with Ulrich. He was actually one of the few people who’d given her a decent fight. He also seemed a bit similar to Yumi herself: Quiet, a tad withdrawn, rough on the outside…He would’ve made decent company, if not for the fact that he seemed to actively avoid her outside of sparring.

Yumi had a suspicion that Milly had planned this. The girl right next to her was always a tad fragile, and despite everything, she seemed to actually look up to Yumi, seeing her as someone who was strong and confident. For all of Yumi’s efforts to not be noticed upon her arrival, she had somehow picked up the adoration of two young girls, who found her to be awe-inspiring for some reason. At the same time though, Milly and her friend Tamiya, were obsessed with getting powerful gossip, and Yumi had a sneaky suspicion that Milly’s wanting to have Yumi more involved in the street activities that occurred in France were born out of a desire to have Yumi socialize more (Which, the Japanese girl begrudgingly admitted to herself was not a bad thing), and get herself a love story involving Yumi and Ulrich.

Yumi was tempted to roll her eyes at the thought, but she kept walking. She was interested in what was going on, it was better than sitting in a dorm room doing nothing once homework was completed and she was bored of practicing her fighting styles.

“Yumi, are you even paying attention?” Milly asked, snapping Yumi out of her thoughts.

“Yes Milly, I am.” Yumi said, smiling half-heartedly at the younger girl.

“Well, we’re here.” Tamiya said.

Yumi looked up to see that they had entered the overpass, and the trio followed Ulrich though the corridors. However, when Ulrich made a right turn, Milly immediately spoke up again.

“Ulrich, that’s not the way to the movie room!” she called out.

Ulrich, not turning around, called back, “Jeremie said that he wanted his stuff in a different area. You two know the way to the film room!”

“Grr…” Milly growled in annoyance, prompting Tamiya to pat her friend on the shoulder.

“So, where is this film room?” Yumi asked politely.

“Follow me.” Tamiya said, leading Yumi and a pouting Milly over to the film room.

Jeremie was hard at work with his robot. He had built a base up for it, from which a robotic pincer-like arm extended outwards. Said arm was grasping at the upper magazine of the film projector, trying to shift it.

“What’s he up to?” Yumi asked, pointing at Jeremie, who was absorbed in his work.

“I think he’s trying to fix the projector, or something…” Tamiya muttered, not knowing what Jeremie was doing with the arm.

Jeremie narrowed his eyes, looking at the upper magazine. This was the problem that had occurred with the film projector, said part had jammed and needed to be repaired. This was a minor problem however, hence why Jeremie wanted to test his robot on repairing the part. Best to start simple and move your way up.

“Almost there…” he muttered, directing the robot with a few commands from his laptop.

The arm moved the upper magazine slightly, and then tried to turn it. The wheel started to move.

“IT WORKS!” Jeremie declared, raising his arms up in the air with triumph.

“What, the robot arm?” Yumi asked in a deadpan fashion, finally catching Jeremie’s attention.

“Well, yes. And the film projector too. We can actually watch movies tonight!” Jeremie answered, moving to disassemble the arm for later usage.

“Except romance movies…” Milly muttered under her breath.

“Oh come on, I hate that gushy romance stuff. Way too much sparkly stuff if you ask me.” Yumi chuckled, patting Milly on the head.

“Well, regardless of what happens tonight, things should turn out pretty decent. Welcome to the club Yumi.” Jeremie said, packing his robot into a box.

“Nice to feel welcome.” Yumi answered honestly. She noted that there was no malice or sarcasm in Jeremie’s voice. He seemed ambivalent about the idea of Yumi joining their private club, which too, was a welcome relief from past situations.

“Why do you need to put all of your computer stuff in here?” Tamiya asked, looking at the boxes of equipment Jeremie had laid out, seemingly debating on its potential status as a story.

“My room’s way too small to use for my robotics work, and I need a dedicated space. Speaking of which, I gotta find Ulrich, I’ll need that equipment cart to get the rest of this stuff out of here.” Jeremie answered.

“Well, Ulrich’s in that room you said you wanted.” Yumi said.

“Is he? All right then, might as well get him.” Jeremie said, getting up and walking out of the room.

The computer genius walked down the hallways until he saw Ulrich in the impromptu lab, sitting down on the floor, face leaning on his right hand, quite clearly sulking.

“Still sulking over all of this?” Jeremie asked, picking up the empty cart handle.

“Look, I’m...not really comfortable about tonight, you know? I mean, should I stay, should I not stay?” Ulrich rambled.

“Look, I’m no expert on love, but seriously dude, you’re just going to be sitting next to her. Or not. Either case, I don’t think Milly’s attempt at playing matchmaker is going to work how she wants it to. Just go with the flow, and whatever happens, happens.” Jeremie shrugged, before shifting to a question. “What’s the worst-case scenario anyways?”

“I can think of a few things that could count as one...” Ulrich muttered.

“Look, the worst I can see happening is that you and Yumi walk out of here tonight hating each other’s guts like in some bad soap opera, or Sebastian, Hugo, and Charlie finally snap and try to destroy Milly’s teddy bear.” Jeremie replied.

Ulrich snorted and got up. “That thing? It’s just a teddy bear.”

“Well, it probably sends some creepy messages to people if you’re eleven years old and try talking to a teddy bear.” Jeremie said casually, as if he didn’t think much of the matter. Which he didn’t. At most, it was mildly amusing.

Ulrich just grunted, and walked out of the room in thought. He honestly didn’t know what to do about Yumi. Jeremie did spell out the worst possible outcomes, though like Jeremie, Ulrich was indifferent to the teddy bear and thought that Sebastian and Hugo were panicking way too much about the thing. It was a bit more understandable with Charlie, being that he was two years younger than Milly, but still, it was just a stuffed animal. What was so disturbing about that?

Ulrich then realized that he was mentally stalling for time, and took a deep breath. Might as well try to find a way to make the night less awkward.

The young fighter walked over to the film room, where Milly was showing Yumi its features.

“…And that’s the snack cabinet!” she finished.

“That’s nice Milly.” Yumi said, even though she got the gist of the room. She did genuinely like how cozy it was however.

Tamiya noticed Ulrich walking into the room, and tugged on Yumi’s shirt.

“Hmm?” Yumi asked before setting her eyes on Ulrich.

It was now or never in Ulrich’s eyes. He wasn’t good at this love confession thing (And plus he hadn’t known Yumi that long to begin with, so that would’ve been weird anyways, so perhaps this didn’t count as a love confession?), but he did know what he and she seemed to find common ground on to break the ice with.

“You uh, wanna find another room here and spar in? The win record’s still in your favor…” Ulrich asked quietly.

Milly was about to open her mouth to squee, only for Tamiya to cover it with her hand.

Yumi was surprised, and then she smirked playfully.

“All right, it’s a deal.” She replied.

Ulrich nodded and the two left the room, passing by Jeremie pulling the equipment cart.

Jeremie looked at Milly and Tamiya, and then behind him. “So, Ulrich actually made a move. I honestly thought that he would just leave and sulk.” He said once Ulrich and Yumi were out of earshot.

“You wanna put some cash on how long it’ll take before they put themselves in a relationship?” Tamiya, asked, pulling out a notebook and flipping to a few pages.

Jeremie shrugged his shoulders.

“I say, five euros in two months.” He said.

“That’s…really cheap of you.” Tamiya deadpanned.

“I gain nothing, I lose nothing.” Jeremie said nonchalantly.

* * *

Ulrich and Yumi came to another empty room. This one had some mats put into it, courtesy of Ulrich himself. If the gym was ever unavailable, he might as well have a backup work-out area. He’d even managed to find an old punching bag to use for it and had a small trunk containing some towels in a corner. Unlike the room that Jeremie had called dibs on, the room Ulrich used was rather out of the way, even compared to the other rooms in the underpass. No one seemed to mind or question that Ulrich had claimed this spot for himself.

Yumi looked around the room.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” She commented, somewhat impressed. 

“Thanks.” Ulrich said, taking a deep breath and getting into a fighting stance.

“You ready?” he asked.

Yumi smirked. “Heh, oh yeah.”

Yumi also got into a fighting stance, mirroring Ulrich’s pose. Then she realized something.

“Oh wait, we forgot to bow.” She said.

Ulrich’s eyes widened, and he coughed nervously as both he and Yumi bowed to one another. Then they slipped right back into their fighting stances, both circling each other, waiting for the other to strike.

Ulrich made the first move, jumping right at Yumi, forcing her to sidestep the assault as Ulrich jabbed at her with his left hand, before swinging down his right. Yumi jumped out of the way, and then jumped downwards before she swung her leg trying to trip Ulrich onto the ground. Ulrich couldn’t avoid the attack and fell onto the padded ground.

“Heh.” Yumi grinned, standing up. 

Ulrich smirked, before quickly jumping back onto his feet and swinging his arms into a flurry, forcing Yumi to dodge them. Yumi threw out her palm, only for Ulrich to dodge that attack and swing his leg in a roundhouse kick against Yumi. Yumi jumped out of the way, only for Ulrich to jump in front of her and swing his other leg around. Yumi caught Ulrich’s attack and started to push the boy back towards the wall.

However, as she did so, Ulrich grabbed onto Yumi’s shoulders and flipped her around. The two rolled through the air and landed onto the ground, with Ulrich on top of Yumi, pinning the black-haired girl onto the ground. Once he did so however, the faces of the two came rather close to one another, much too close for either one’s comfort.

Ulrich quickly got off of Yumi and the girl got up from the ground, both of them panting from the warm-up.

“Let’s uh, call that one a tie.” Yumi said, her hands on her knees.

“Y-yeah.” Ulrich said.

“So, what’s the exact score?” Yumi asked.

“Um, still in your favor. By about, 3 matches I think?” Ulrich ventured.

“I thought it was 7 matches.” Yumi said.

“Eh, well. Even so…” Ulrich replied, at a loss for words.

It was quiet for a few seconds between the two, before Yumi ventured further inquiry. “So, what else happens around here?”

“Oh, uh, plenty of stuff. I mean, whenever the gym’s occupied, I come down here to practice. I-if you want, you could join me…” Ulrich answered, still nervous.

“I think I’d like that. What say that we start keeping more of our sparring records?” Yumi asked.

“Starting now?” Ulrich asked.

“Starting now.” Yumi said, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she quickly tripped Ulrich down with the same move the brown-haired boy had fallen victim to before.

“Which means, Yumi 1, Ulrich 0.” She smirked.

“Guess I’ll have to even that score then.” Ulrich grunted, a smirk of his own on his face.

The two then spent the time sparring with one another, learning more about each other’s movements. They took breaks in between, with Ulrich walking over to the trunk to get the two some towels while they rested.

The two were at for quite some time until the sun started to go down. Of course, it was hard to tell that the sun was setting, since the overcast over the city was starting to grow. People started heading for home, trying to avoid the torrential downpour that was about to hit the city later that night. The threat of rain didn’t stop those people who traveled the city alleyways however, as they searched for dry roofs.

The children who were watching movies in their little underpass cinema of course, weren’t planning on letting the rain stop them.

They ran down to the underpass. Amare, Hugo, and Charlie were first, the younger boy tagging along with his older step-brother Hugo.

Sebastian followed, running so as to make sure that he and his precious film reels weren’t going to get wet if the rain started coming down early. To be completely on the safe side, he had an umbrella with him.

Meanwhile, Ulrich and Yumi exited the sparring room, and walked down towards the film room. They talked on their way there.

“So, have you been practicing Pencak Silat long?” Ulrich asked, referring to Yumi’s martial arts skills.

“Yeah, since I was young. My parents think it’s weird though.” Yumi replied.

“I think it’s cool. I always feel calm whenever I’m doing it.” Ulrich complimented.

“Same here.” Yumi said as the two walked into the film room.

Everyone else was already there. Jeremie, Milly, Tamiya, Amare, Hugo, Charlie, and Sebastian were there. Milly and Tamiya were sitting down near the front of the screen, Milly holding her teddy bear, while Amare and Hugo raised an eyebrow at seeing Ulrich casually walk and chat with Yumi. Charlie was just sitting down patiently, waiting for a movie. Sebastian was looking over the film projector with a critical expression in his eyes until Jeremie slipped in a blank testing film reel to prove that the robot had worked.

“You see Sebastian? It worked. My robot was a success.” Jeremie said proudly.

“Congratulations Belpois.” Sebastian sighed begrudingly, nodding his head with relief that Jeremie hadn’t screwed up.

The Street Kid then turned around to see Ulrich and Yumi sitting down next to each other.

“So Stern actually has a spine. I thought for sure he’d sulk out of here.” Sebastian muttered.

“Well, he actually managed to start talking to Yumi, and that means we can actually relax.” Jeremie said, sitting down with his arms crossed behind his head in said relaxation.

Milly then walked over to Sebastian, an enormous smile the size of a slice of watermelon plastered on her face, arms hugging her teddy bear so tightly, the Street Kid wondered if the large, creepy doll would burst.

“They’re talking!” she said gleefully.

“That they are.” Sebastian said calmly.

“So does that mean-?” Milly asked, only for Sebastian to hush her.

“Until those two are actually boyfriend and girlfriend, and until it’s steady, you aren’t going to see any romance films.” Sebastian replied, an unchanging casual expression on his face as he walked up to the front of the room.

Milly pouted, hugging her teddy bear tightly as she went back to sit next to Tamiya.

Sebastian then made an announcement:

“Okay, everyone knows that there is a very high chance of rain tonight. As such, we are going to first watch a short five-minute film. Then we all need to leave. If it’s not raining, we take no chances and then head back to the dorms. If it is raining, I have a backup film for us to watch while we wait out the storm.”

Audible groans were heard from the younger kids.

“Just five minutes?” Charlie asked.

“Just five minutes. Roll it Belpois!” Sebastian answered, before having Jeremie start the film.

The subject matter of the film was action-oriented, featuring people engaging in enormous battles with one another. There didn’t seem to be much of a plot to the film however. It just cut straight to the action, and that was it. Men and women flew across the screen, firing giant blasts of energy at each other or commanding enormous robots that shot lasers and missiles. It was basically put, all of the big action pieces squeezed together into five minutes. 

Sebastian figured that if they were only going to get five minutes, they might as well count.

And as such, much to the protesting of Amare and Charlie, once the short film’s time was up, the group left the film room and headed to the underpass’s exit.

“I’m almost wishing for rain.” Charlie muttered.

“I know, I mean, that film was awesome! Not very long, but hey, something to get you pumped up for more.” Amare said.

“Be careful what you wish for,” Sebastian warned, having caught their conversation, “you just might get it, and then regret it.”

“Yeah, I’m not a fan of walking in the rain.” Ulrich said.

“That’s why I came prepared with an umbrella.” Sebastian replied.

“You didn’t happen to make an umbrella did you?” Yumi asked Jeremie.

“Didn’t see any reason to make one.” Jeremie answered.

“…You didn’t think to make an umbrella despite the weather? Why?” Ulrich asked, disbelieving how Jeremie could easily build a robot capable of repairing film projectors, and yet neglect to make an umbrella despite the fact that Sebastian had outright given him the weather forecast.

“I didn’t think it was important!” Jeremie replied indignantly.

Before the verbal jabs could continue, the group saw the exit to the underpass, and then saw a flash of lightning, before hearing the roar of thunder. Walking up to the exit, the children soon saw that it had begun to rain in a torrential downpour.

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Sebastian said.

“Now we get to see that other movie!” Charlie cheered, only for Milly and Tamiya to glare at him.

“I could just leave you all here with my umbrella…” Sebastian began, causing everyone to glare at him in annoyance. “But, that’d be pretty mean of me, so let’s go.” He said, chuckling.

And thus, the group returned to the film room to watch the backup feature. Yet while they did so, they were completely unaware of what was happening in town…

On one street, a woman was struggling to get home, the powerful winds threatening to tear away her umbrella. As she walked however, the streetlights began to flicker on and off, before their lamps shattered in an explosion of sparks, startling the woman, who let go of her umbrella, causing it to be blown away.

Down several blocks from there, a group of public school children had settled down to play video games for the night, but a few minutes after they had started up their system and began to play their video game, the console began to spark violently, the game began to slow down and glitch, before a strange image began to take up their television screen. The children then screamed in terror as the television burst into flames, and they ran out of the room they were in to warn their parents.

Several miles away from either of these two locations, a brown-haired delivery man was driving his truck down a lonely street, driving slowly due to the presence of the rain. As he braked to a halt in front of a red light at a T-section, he then noticed the light start to flicker between colors, and then, before he knew what was happening, his truck suddenly accelerated forward, crashing right into a concrete wall. The driver groaned as his airbag hit him.

Throughout the night, all sorts of strange phenomena occurred in the city, as if haunted by something…

This all went unknown by the group in the underpass, who watched the movie without a hitch going by. Said film was a documentary, much to the disappointment of everyone who had enjoyed the action-based short. However, Sebastian then brought up that they could all take their chances with the rain, shutting up the more verbal complainers.

When the hour-long film ended and the group checked out the weather, it seemed to be letting up, with the rain currently being at a drizzle.

“Okay, looks like we have a window to get out of here,” Sebastian said, unfolding his umbrella, “let’s move!”

Everyone nodded and ran back over to Kadic before they either got too wet, were held accountable for leaving campus, or before the storm came back and caused both of the first two possibilities to happen. As they neared the school, they ran on a sidewalk that was underneath a power line suspended on telephone poles. Said power line was starting to sway wildly as the winds started to pick up in intensity again. A spark of electricity emerged from the line, and if it had been observed by another, the spark seemed to follow the group like a hungry predator. The electricity slowly became more and more intense, until it reached an insulator.

Milly and Tamiya were lagging behind the rest of the group, and just as they passed the insulator where the spark was, with a loud crackle of electricity the cable snapped. It flew about wildly, before diving towards the two girls like a snake striking its prey. The entire group heard what was happening, and turned around to see the horrific sight in action. Milly and Tamiya screamed as the sparking electric cable swiped at them, frozen in fear.

“Get down!” Ulrich cried out as he and Yumi made a mad dash for the two cub reporters.

Yumi and Ulrich pushed Milly and Tamiya on the ground, causing the electric hazard to miss its target. Yumi grabbed Tamiya’s hand, and Ulrich grabbed Milly’s. But in the shock and panic of it all, Milly had let go of her teddy bear. However, no one noticed or cared as the remaining cables of the power line came loose and seemed to come to life just as the first cable had.

Everyone knows that broken power lines are a lethal hazard, and as the situation seemed to devolve into further chaos, the older kids’ survival instincts kicked in to get away from the danger.

“RUN!” Amare called out, and everyone obliged.

The children didn’t dare look back until they all returned to the front gates of Kadic, panting and in shock from the horror that they had just witnessed.

“What was that?!” Sebastian asked, dumbstruck.

“J-just a power line failure.” Jeremie wheezed. “A really big one though…”

“C-calm down Charlie.” Hugo comforted his little brother, who began crying loudly in fear.

“Th-thank you Yumi.” Tamiya stuttered out.

“You’re welcome Tamiya,” Yumi comforted in relief, “how’s Milly doing Ulrich?”

“She looks fine.” Ulrich said.

“I am but, wh-where’s my teddy bear?!” Milly cried out in panic, jumping around trying to find her stuffed toy.

“You must have dropped it.” Ulrich said, putting a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm Milly down.

Unfortunately, Ulrich wasn’t the best with comforting children who had nearly been killed by an electric cable monster. Granted, none of the children knew that the cables had come to life, but the fact remained that Ulrich was failing to console Milly. And to her, that danger might as well have been a monster...

“No! We have to go back for him!” Milly cried out.

“You do realize that those are live cables right?” Jeremie asked, “we’d be electrocuted if we went back there, especially with all of this water around. We’re lucky that they didn’t hit the puddles, or we’d have all been toast!”

“But-!“ Milly began, but Sebastian cut her off.

“No buts, we need to sneak back into our dorms. Ishiyama, look after Milly and Tamiya, they know the route for sneaking into the girl’s dorm undetected.” Sebastian replied.

“Wait, there’s a route to sneak into the girl’s dorm?” Yumi asked indignantly.

“Only we girls know it.” Tamiya said, smiling in spite of the nasty near-shock that had happened.

“Either way, we need to get back to our rooms. It’ll start raining again soon. Come on everyone.” Sebastian ordered.

With that, the group split up, sneaking into the dorms quietly, making sure not to wake anyone up. They all made it into the dormitories before the next downpour began.

However, when Jeremie returned to his room, he was greeted with a nasty surprise.

“What the hell?” he mouthed quietly.

His room, which he had spent a good deal of the time organizing that afternoon, had returned to being a mess. The drawers were all open, and their contents strewn all over the room. Jeremie’s bedsheets and pillow were on the floor, and the poster of Einstein that hung over his bed had been ripped off the wall, though it was still intact. A picture of Jeremie with his parents was now on the floor, though thankfully on a pile of shirts and was also still intact. Jeremie’s computer deck however, was surprisingly untouched, aside from his rolling chair now lying on the side of the bed.

“How did this all happen?” Jeremie asked himself quietly, incredulous as to what happened.

“Ugh…” he groaned, “Jim’s not going to like this when he comes by for dorm inspection.”

* * *

“Excellent work Belpois! Except for the bed! Since I see you’re still sleeping in it!” Jim said, commending Jeremie’s now-clean room, “when I first saw this room, I thought it was a garbage dump, but now it actually looks like a room! Perfect for a model student to sleep in! After all, a good night’s sleep can do anyone some good!”

“Y-yes Jim…” Jeremie muttered, still extremely sleepy.

It was now morning. Jeremie had worked to clean up his room after it had somehow become messy again. It didn’t take too long, but it hadn’t been what Jeremie had been desiring to do after having a run-in with broken power cables. He hadn’t gotten a very good sleep as a result, and he’d slept in, just as Jim had come in to do the inspection that he had promised.

“Now, I remember what happened to my room not too long ago! There I was, enjoying an excellent late-night opera, when all of a sudden, the power goes out, and my room is thrown into chaos! Next thing I know, my television is smashed to bits and debris is everywhere! Most people would give up if their room was thrown into a state, but not good old Jim! I got everything in order! Though the repair company couldn’t spare anyone… But that does not change the basics!” Jim continued.

“Yes Jim…” Jeremie muttered, yawning.

“Either case Belpois, you have earned a day of rest! Spend your Sunday however you please! I myself plan to see into buying a new television, which reminds me of the time that I had to rush over to a radio station back when I was a forest ranger in Quebec.” Jim said, going into a tangent about his earlier work.

“Why the rush?” Jeremie asked, slowly getting out of bed.

“Well, I'd rather not talk about it. Good day!” Jim said, exiting Jeremie’s room and slamming the door, causing the hastily propped-up Einstein poster to fall on top of Jeremie.

Jeremie just narrowed his eyes at this, groaned, and got ready to start the day. He put the poster back up on the wall, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and headed down to the cafeteria. Jeremie, due to being tired, didn’t take notice of the continued presence of overcast once he got outside.

When he got in line, he looked at the menu in confusion, as it brought up lunch items instead of breakfast. When he got up to Rosa, the lady who served the meals, he asked why the lunch items were up, not knowing that he’d overslept.

Rosa’s response could be expected:

“Because it’s lunchtime Belpois!” she said, “some people actually know when to wake up to have breakfast for breakfast!”

Stifling a last yawn, Jeremie just nodded as he received his food. He walked over to his usual table, where Ulrich and Yumi were now sitting.

“You don’t look so good.” Yumi said, noticing Jeremie’s drowsiness.

“Kept up last night by what happened?” Ulrich asked. “Not everyday we nearly get electrocuted.”

“It has more to do with the fact that my room was a complete mess somehow when I got back, all of that hard work cleaning it up, gone in a flash!” Jeremie answered, drinking some water to wake himself up fully.

“You missed something big this morning.” Yumi said.

“Something big?” Jeremie asked.

“Well…” Yumi said, thinking back to the morning…

* * *

Before Yumi had gone to breakfast, she decided to see how Milly and Tamiya were doing. After getting dressed and leaving her dorm room, she knocked gently on the joint dorm room Milly and Tamiya shared. After hearing a groggy ‘come in’, Yumi turned the doorknob and entered the room.

The room that the two junior reporters shared was a rather furnished and decorated one. It was the standard size of a two-bed dormitory room, but had three sets of bookshelves installed: A long open two-shelf set nailed to the right wall atop Tamiya’s bed, right next to the dress-closet that the two shared, a shorter closed four-shelf set above the lower half of Milly’s bed, and a tall closed five-shelf set at the very end of the room. This last set was situated next to a rather large workplace that dominated the inner-half of the room, complete with a laptop, with various folders and papers and writing utensils strewn about it. Milly’s half of the room was decorated with a poster of a Care Bear and a small bulletin board, and the shelf atop her bed held a radio-set and several stuffed animals, which also sat atop her bed, surrounding the still sleeping red-head. Tamiya’s half was decorated with several African artifacts, with a map of Africa pinned to the side of the dress-closet.

It was certainly less sparse than Yumi’s rather simple room, that was for sure.

Not surprisingly, Tamiya moved rather slowly as she slowly got out of bed, and seemed a tad jittery from last night. Milly was still asleep.

“Good morning Yumi.” Tamiya said, stifling a yawn.

“Good morning. I just wanted to check up on you two after well, last night.” Yumi explained.

“Thanks. Milly was crying a lot last night, and, well, I had some nightmares about all of that. What caused all of that?” Tamiya asked.

“It must have been a short circuit, or something. Power lines can break during storms.” Yumi said.

“That must’ve been it, but it was so, scary…” Tamiya muttered.

Yumi smiled before putting a hand of comfort on Tamiya’s shoulder. “There’s a lot of scary things out there Tamiya. You just have to learn how to deal with them.” She said, offering some advice to the younger girl.

“Maybe we should tell that to Milly.” Tamiya replied, pointing to her red-haired friend, who was now waking up.

But much to Yumi and Tamiya’s surprise, Milly was holding her teddy bear! The very same one that had been left behind when the power lines had broken.

“Milly, do you have more than one teddy bear?” Yumi ventured as Milly’s eyes flickered open. It made sense considering the girl’s apparent collection of stuffed animals.

“No, I…MY TEDDY BEAR!” She cried out in glee, hugging the stuffed animal tightly.

“Wait, didn’t you drop it earlier?” Yumi asked warily.

“Maybe he came back?” The red-haired girl ventured, still hugging her teddy bear.

“Um…” Yumi and Milly hesitated, looking at each other.

* * *

“Wait, her teddy bear returned to her? Just like that?” Jeremie asked, spooked as he looked over at where Milly and Tamiya were sitting, arguing about the reappearance of the teddy bear while Sebastian, Hugo, and Charlie looked at the toy in horror, creeped out by the teddy bear spontaneously returning to its owner.

“Yeah. Everyone in this little club of yours is spooked.” Yumi said.

“Even Ulrich?” Jeremie asked, looking at the brown-haired boy.

“I’m not scared of a stuffed animal.” Ulrich said bluntly. “Even if Milly talks to it like it was real.” 

“Hmm…” Jeremie muttered as he thought over what had happened.

“As for the power line, they’re working to fix it. Apparently they say it was an electrical discharge, nothing too serious.” Yumi explained. “There were apparently some other incidents around town like that.”

“Oh? I wonder what else happened last night?” Jeremie asked, his curiosity starting to be piqued.

Throughout the day, the news was talking about the storm. One such report that had popped up early in the morning, came out as:

_ “The recent storm seems to have caused a great deal of trouble. As we discussed earlier this morning, several traffic accidents have occurred all around town, and several power lines have been brought down. Besides this, there have been reports of interior fires, as well as damage to buildings from construction vehicles that seem to have been moved overnight. The police are still looking into these mysterious cases of vandalism…” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is essentially an adaptation of the 50-second short film; Les Enfants, the other pre-Code Lyoko animation and what was expected to be used as the basis of Garage Kids as the original premise was created. For some reason, everyone except Milly and Tamiya did not make the cut to Code Lyoko, and I still have no idea why. The OCs that appear in this chapter are essentially adaptations of these characters as a result.
> 
> Next time, we hit the second part of the Prequel Arc. I wonder, what could be the cause of the disturbances that have appeared in town, hmmm?


	3. Shadows in the Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children of Kadic have a mystery afoot! But there is more to it than they might believe...and a threat beyond any of their wildest dreams...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still pretty certain that this is the longest GK chapter I've ever written. Making this behemoth is what convinced me to split up the next set of Files up into different parts. This version still had its FF.net File saved, so that was what was edited. I'll put this up on FF.net as soon as I can.
> 
> Thanks to Deadcoder for giving the File a read and pointing some stuff out.

_Garage Kids_

File 3 – Shadows in the Machine

"Tamiya, I don't get it, aren't you happy my teddy bear's back?" Milly whined.

"I'm happy for you Milly, really, I am! But you dropped that thing in the middle of a bunch of broken power lines! How could it have just come back to your room?" Tamiya replied.

"Maybe someone brought it back to me!" Milly protested.

"You know Sebastian, Hugo, and Charlie are all creeped out by it. Whenever you talk to it, it freaks them out. They definitely wouldn't have gone back there for your teddy bear!" Tamiya retorted.

"Then maybe it was Amare! Or Ulrich! Or Jeremie! Maybe it was Yumi!" Milly cried out in increasing desperation.

"Yumi didn't look like she knew how you got the teddy bear back this morning. And I don't think Amare or Ulrich care about your teddy bear. And Jeremie pretty much just told us why we couldn't go back there, so it can't have been him!" Tamiya explained, trying to calm Milly's defensive panic.

"Maybe…maybe..." Milly whimpered, before crying out in defiance, "maybe my teddy bear came back by itself!"

Albeit, a tad too loudly for people around the lunchroom to hear.

While most of the other students just ignored the red-haired junior journalist apparently going insane, the students who had been with her last night when the cables nearly shocked her and Tamiya were growing concerned.

"You…don't think that Milly's teddy bear coming back and the cables breaking apart are connected, do you?" Jeremie guessed.

Yumi raised an eyebrow at the bespectacled boy's question. She may have told Jeremie about the anomalous event, but even so…that question was, well…

"Jeremie, explain how you linked a teddy bear somehow returning to its owner and power cables breaking apart." Yumi asked, explaining the absurdity of the situation.

While Jeremie thought that over, Milly was still trying to defend her teddy bear's return. "Look, my teddy bear is back! That's what matters right now!" she said.

"You're wrong," Sebastian said, walking up to the girls' table, "what matters is that you throw that thing into the nearest trash can Solovieff. A teddy bear somehow returning to its owner by itself is, how do I put it…disturbing."

"I'm not throwing my teddy bear away! He helps me when I'm stressed!" Milly protested, hugging her teddy bear defensively and throwing glares at Sebastian and Tamiya.

"Well…maybe," Tamiya began, throwing her own glare at Sebastian for his bluntness, "but you can't rely on your teddy bear forever Milly. I know he's like a security blanket for you, but there's going to be a day where you can't use him. Imagine what would happen if we're about to achieve our dreams of being journalists for the papers, if they saw an adult hugging a teddy bear, well, they'd think that it would be weird."

Tamiya had tried to console Milly as gently as she could, but Milly was still hysterical.

"Well, well…" she muttered, trying to think of a rebuttal, only to dash out of her seat and run out of the lunchroom.

"Milly!" Tamiya called, getting up from her seat and running after the red-haired girl. Yumi had looked at the scene, both with pity for Milly being a tad fragile, and annoyance at Sebastian for being completely tactless.

"You could've been a little nicer." She said to the tan-skinned boy.

"Yeah, yeah…" Sebastian muttered, annoyed at how he had let his paranoia get the better of his common sense.

"You do have to admit," Amare said, walking past Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi's table, "it IS still disconcerting that she uses that teddy bear as an emotional crutch."

"Yeah." Hugo confirmed as Amare pulled up a seat next to him.

"Teddy bears shouldn't move on their own," Charlie, wearing blue overalls over a pink shirt, muttered. "Unless they're Winnie-The-Pooh…maybe her teddy bear is secretly Winnie-The-Pooh?"

Hugo looked at his kid brother.

"No Charlie, that teddy bear is not Winnie-The-Pooh." He said flatly.

"It was a good guess!" Charlie protested.

"No, no it was not." Hugo replied, shaking his head.

Listening to the other conversation, Jeremie summarized the entire situation. "Either way…this is all getting really weird."

"I said it this morning, and I'll say it again, someone had to have moved Milly's teddy bear and snuck back into her room." Ulrich said.

"I doubt it, no one else here knows or cares about our nightly activities." Jeremie pointed out quietly, though loud enough for Ulrich and Yumi to hear. "I mean, everyone here has their own shady business, but no one is much of a snitch…so it couldn't have been anyone else, and asking around is going to start bringing trouble we don't want."

"Wait what?" Yumi asked, eyes widening in shock. "You mean to tell me that almost everyone in this school does stuff like in your group?"

Jeremie shrugged his shoulders.

"If it isn't school or sanctioned activity-related, no one asks about it, or at the very least, no one tells the teachers about it. If it disturbs classes of course. Our movie nights are pretty tame, and we reserve those for the weekends anyway." He explained.

"Well...I really should've asked around more…" Yumi muttered. Milly had only given her the basics of what happened in the group of people she and Tamiya called their friends, and Sebastian had just nodded his head when Milly had dragged Yumi over to him and explained that Yumi would be joining the group's movie watching. Yumi had had no idea at the time that her current school or town could have... quirks, owing to how she'd kept to herself for the most part. "The more you know..."

"Either way, this whole thing is weird, but...intriguingly so...so I guess I might as well try to get to the bottom of it." Jeremie said.

"I thought you were going to look for scrap metal." Ulrich muttered.

"With all this rain? It's probably rusted and conductive with water. Besides, I'm not planning on doing any scavenging until I run out of parts." Jeremie pointed out.

"Good luck with that then." Yumi said, getting up from her seat, "I'd better find Milly and Tamiya. Milly's probably acting like this because of what happened last night. She wants something to comfort her after nearly getting shocked like that, and losing her security blanket might've sent her over the edge." And with that, Yumi left.

"So, how about it Ulrich? Want to help me investigate some paranormal activity?" Jeremie asked.

Ulrich looked at Jeremie, then looked at the other kids in their group.

"I'd recommend staying here Stern, less chance of something weird happening!" Sebastian called out.

"I'll take my chances with the 'paranormal activity'." Ulrich sighed, wanting to get Sebastian and the others (aside from Amare, who didn't see how people could fear a teddy bear) out of their ridiculous paranoia concerning a stuffed animal. Besides, he needed something to do to kill time.

* * *

Milly had run across the entire campus, sprinting through the academy park, which was a heavily forested area, until she eventually reached the gardening shed. Milly tried to turn the handle, and found that the door was surprisingly unlocked. Normally, Michael Rouiler, the school groundskeeper, kept this door locked, so why it wasn't somewhat surprised Milly, but in her current emotional state, that question quickly evaporated as she entered the tool shed, closed the door, and slid down to sit on the floor.

"I don't get it. Why can't they be happy you're back like I am?" Milly asked her teddy bear.

The stuffed creature did not reply.

"I mean, you don't care about whether I'm old enough to do anything…And I'm glad you're here…because of…" Milly trailed.

She thought back to last night, running through the rain, happy that she'd set Yumi on the path of friendship, though she was miffed at not being allowed to see romance films to cap the night off. Boys, why couldn't they ever enjoy something comforting and happy? They always had to watch things that made them feel 'manly' or something. But regardless, she was satisfied with the night at that point, the short film Sebastian had showed wasn't terrible, and unlike several of the boys, she'd enjoyed the documentary (Which was a nature one focused on the ecosystem of mountainous regions).

But then that cable had snapped. Milly remembered seeing the sparks fly, and how the immense wire swung about like a crazed serpent, before flying at her and Tamiya like a whip. Just before Ulrich had pushed her out of the way, Milly had seen the electricity crackle from the wire, as if the cable had come to life and was trying to kill her. She then remembered how the other cables broke and whipped around like crazy…

She could've been killed; Tamiya could've been killed…they ALL could have been killed.

Milly started to hyperventilate in a panic, with visions of lightning striking her appearing before her eyes. Lightning that then shot Tamiya. Lightning that shot Yumi. Lightning that struck down Ulrich and Jeremie, electric cables strangling Sebastian, Hugo, and Charlie, electric cables impaling Amare…

"Ah, ah, WAHHH!" Milly cried, hugging her teddy bear fiercely.

Tears fell down Milly's cheeks as she sobbed with fear, dripping atop the stuffed animal in her arms. But then, she heard a voice call out to her.

" _It's okay Milly, you know that I'm always here for you."_

"What?" Milly asked, exiting the embrace of her teddy bear.

Then, much to her surprise, the teddy bear's arms moved, and then wiped the tears off Milly's face.

"T-teddy?" Milly asked in surprise.

"I'm always here for you Milly. Always here to help you through the rough times." The teddy bear comforted.

Milly gasped as her teddy bear leaped out of her arms and then hugged her by itself.

"I'm always here for you…" the teddy bear murmured, eyes beginning to glow a deep yellow...

* * *

Jeremie and Ulrich were in the underpass again. Due to the threat of the rain last night, Jeremie had left his laptop in his new computer lab. It was still fairly sparse, though several boxes had been opened. The empty equipment cart was currently acting as a makeshift table and Jeremie, sitting down on one of the few cushions in the room, made a mental note to get an actual desk for his lab. Jeremie had also brought his pack so that he would be able to take the laptop back to his room without worrying about dropping it.

Ulrich, standing up, was currently carrying a skateboard, which he used to get around faster, and since his hands weren't full, he could actually use it. Jeremie had a scooter, but he'd left it behind in another empty room, and had to walk. Thankfully, he had found it when the two returned to the underpass and it was now lying against one of the walls. The reason Ulrich brought his skateboard was because neither one of them was willing to go down a road with broken power lines (that were also likely being repaired and thus the road would be blocked off anyways), and took different routes until they met up at the underpass, with Ulrich's route being longer than Jeremie's.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Ulrich asked.

"First off, I want to gather more information on the storm last night, I need to see if anything like those broken power lines happened to other people, and I figure that using my laptop would be the perfect method!" Jeremie explained.

"And we can't use a television because?" Ulrich asked.

"Because the internet already has all the articles that the televisions cover already, and, AHA! There we go! Look!" Jeremie said, turning his laptop towards Ulrich, who knelt to read the news articles.

"Broken street lamps across several districts, car crashes in neighborhoods, a television exploding and causing a fire..." Ulrich muttered, listing the articles.

"And another one, several power lines broken, four people injured." Jeremie said, pointing to another article on the web page.

"Those last two…they sound like what happened to Jim yesterday and what happened to us last night!" Ulrich gasped.

"Yup. Looks like we weren't the only ones who got stuck with broken power lines and destroyed rooms." Jeremie said, pushing his glasses into place. "We got off easy. You saw Jim's room, right? After his T.V. exploded? Did the room look like it was on fire?"

"No…it looked more like your room." Ulrich answered. "A mess, but nothing that bad."

"So once again, we got lucky. Four people were critically injured from two cases of power line failure. If you and Yumi hadn't saved Milly and Tamiya, that number could've become six." Jeremie explained, his expression becoming grim. "These incidents are connected, Ulrich."

"But I don't get how a teddy bear factors in here…" Ulrich muttered.

"Neither do I, but before we jump back over to the case of the returning stuffed animal, I want you to look at this." Jeremie said, closing the news article and directing Ulrich to another webpage.

This page showed off a basic diagram of a city's power lines, and how they transmitted power to the rest of the city from the power plant located just outside the city limits.

"Why are you showing me this?" Ulrich asked.

"Something was bothering me while I walked over here. If the power line close to the school was damaged, then why didn't we have a blackout? The electricity seemed to work fine." Jeremie replied.

"Maybe that power line doesn't connect to the school?" Ulrich ventured.

Jeremie put a hand up to his chin, "Even if the school is on a different subgrid, it would still affect the load balancing, which would at least make it flicker significantly. Remember, Paris is supplied by multiple nuclear power plants and an assortment of smaller plants; and that's just the stuff currently operational. All of the grid was built with the reality that there are multiple sources and thus it's more of a grid than a tree-"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Ulrich interrupted with a lie. Really, some of Jeremie's explanations, if not most, if not _all_ of them, were WAY too detailed for the brown-haired boy's tastes. "So now we get back to the teddy bear? Maybe the wind blew it back." He guessed half-heartedly.

Jeremie looked at Ulrich blankly.

"You got anything else?" the brown-hair asked rhetorically.

"Either case, I'm 90% certain that everything that happened last night, and maybe even what happened before that, are connected to one another. What we're missing right now Ulrich, is the cause, the root of the problem." Jeremie stated.

"Maybe it was the storm?" Ulrich guessed.

"If Jim had a similar problem before that storm arrived, then the storm can't be the cause. Heck, maybe even what happened last night affected the _storm_ just like all of the equipment." Jeremie rebuffed.

"Then what caused it?" Ulrich asked, putting a hand to his face in annoyance as the mystery seemed to deepen and yet at the same time make less and less sense.

"I don't know, but we need to find out." Jeremie replied, about to shut off his laptop.

That's when it happened.

A loud buzzing noise began to emanate from Jeremie's laptop. The web page that the computer genius had switched onto began to glitch out and distort, until the screen went white, except for a massive black silhouette that took up most of the screen. The silhouette seemed to be that of the Space Needle in Seattle, rising out of a black void and connected to said void via what seemed to be cables.

"WHAT THE-?!" Jeremie and Ulrich cried out, jumping up in a fright.

Jeremie's laptop landed on the ground, and five ghost-like creatures erupted from the screen, flying around the room like a swarm of crazed hornets. Four of the ghosts either phased out of the room or left via the exit, but the fifth one dove into the box containing the partially disassembled robot arm Jeremie had worked on last night.

Before the boys' eyes, the arm seemed to jump out of the box and landed on the floor. It then dragged itself along the ground for a few centimeters before it opened and jumped towards Jeremie's throat. Before it could reach Jeremie however, Ulrich grabbed one of the floor cushions and thrust it in between Jeremie and the robot arm. The arm grabbed the cushion instead of Jeremie, only to then yank it out of Ulrich's hand and then, grasping the cushion just like an actual human hand, the robot arm tore apart the cushion with an unnatural strength.

"What the heck is going on?!" Ulrich yelled in horror.

"I don't know!" Jeremie replied, equally terrified.

The arm dragged itself along the ground yet again, crawling towards the boys for a few feet, before convulsing wildly for several more seconds. Then, the black ghost that had possessed it shot out of the arm and phased out of the room much like its brethren.

The underpass was then silent as Jeremie and Ulrich put their backs against the wall, and slid downwards, trying to make sense of what had happened and willing their hearts to start beating again.

A few minutes passed before Jeremie cautiously crawled over to his laptop and picked it up. The screen was now turned-off, and Jeremie gave the power button a tentative press. The web page that Jeremie had had up previously returned to the boy's screen, as if nothing had happened.

Quite obviously, this was more disconcerting than comforting.

"M-maybe it was those ghosts?" Jeremie asked in shock.

Ulrich just blinked, and then nodded.

The two boys were in quite a pickle. In the space of a few seconds, the situation had gone from perplexing and strange, to ominous and horrific.

* * *

Yumi walked through the school courtyard, looking for Milly. As she entered the school park, she saw Tamiya looking behind several trees. Yumi immediately ran over to the other Kadic News reporter. Hearing footsteps, Tamiya turned and looked up to see Yumi.

"What is it Yumi?" Tamiya asked as the Japanese girl came up next to her.

"I'm trying to help you find Milly." She answered.

"Thanks. She's sulking…I can't exactly blame her though. What happened last night was scary." Tamiya said.

"My thoughts exactly. Everyone else seems to be doing well, at least I think they are." Yumi said as the two girls began walking through the woods.

"I'm not. It's still, weird about how everything is going along like it always does, or just a bit better than usual, and then it becomes so, wrong and scary. You said that we should try to deal with them... I just want to know, how do we deal with them? I want to tell Milly so she'll feel better." Tamiya said.

Yumi was quiet for a few moments, rolling Tamiya's repeating of the advice she had given that morning in her head, debating on what to say. After a few moments pause, she began to explain.

"It depends on the situation," Yumi explained, "there are a lot of times where if trouble is heading your way, you have to run away in order to deal with it, but there are also times where you have to fight with everything you've got. Like last night for instance, running was our best option so we wouldn't get electrocuted. But if we were surrounded by say, a gang of muggers, our best bet would be to fight them off if we weren't able to run away."

Tamiya thought over the older girl's words, and nodded carefully. Then another question popped into her head.

"How do you know so much about this?" Tamiya asked Yumi. "It sounds like you know a lot about defending yourself."

At this, Yumi was silent for a few more moments, memories of previous events flashing through her mind. This silence lasted for a little while longer than before, and it was not until the two girls reached the gardening shed that the Japanese girl spoke up again.

"It's something I've had to deal with a lot in my life. That's, all I want to say for now." She said.

Tamiya was a bit curious as to what Yumi meant, but seeing the gardening shed, she decided it would be best to find Milly first.

"I wonder if Milly's in the tool shed?" Tamiya murmured, before she ran up to the window pane on the right side of the building. She got up on a long wooden box and banged on the window pane, trying to find her friend. "Milly!" the African girl called through the window, "are you in there? Are you finished sulking yet? Yumi and I want to talk with you!"

But before Tamiya could get a response, another, annoyed voice came up from behind. "What are you kids doing near my tool shed?"

"Oh uh," Yumi said, turning around, "we're trying to find Milly, Mr. Rouiler!"

Michael Rouiler, a brown-haired man, wore long green safety gloves and black boots, along with a yellow plaid shirt underneath a gardening apron, which covered most of his jeans. He was a stickler when it came to safety, considering the dangerous objects in the shed. Yumi had become acquainted with him while trying to practice Penchak Silat in the woods. He had been fairly reasonable, thank goodness, but he was quite jumpy and strict whenever students came near his equipment or projects.

"If you're trying to find your friend, I don't know why you're looking in there, I always keep the door to the gardening shed locked, and right now, I need to unlock it so I can fetch my rake. So, Tamiya, get down from there!" the groundskeeper commanded.

Tamiya quickly got off the box, but just as she and Yumi turned to leave, Michael Rouiler noticed something odd when he got to the door.

"Wait, what the heck? It's already unlocked?" he muttered in surprise.

But as he opened the door, there was a soft bump followed by a short cry, and the girls were still close enough to hear the familiar voice that it belonged to.

"Milly!" Tamiya gasped.

Michael Rouiler opened the door fully, to see Milly Solovieff, holding her teddy bear, rubbing her back and in the gardening shed.

To say that the groundskeeper was furious was an understatement.

"What are you doing in here?!" he barked.

"Um, I just came here, and…" Milly began, but the groundskeeper was having none of it.

"Get out of the tool shed! It's off limits to students for a reason! You could get hurt in here!" he yelled, prompting Milly to run out of the gardening shed in a panic…

But in the opposite direction of where Tamiya and Yumi were standing.

"Wait, Milly, come back!" Tamiya called out.

"When you find her, bring her back here! We need to talk with the principal about this!" Rouiler demanded as Yumi followed after Tamiya.

After the girls left, the groundskeeper examined the lock, shaking his head in disbelief. Then an expression of confusion made its way across his brow as he tested his keys on the door lock.

"What the?" he murmured.

The lock seemed to have been altered. His key didn't fit into the lock like it normally did.

"How did…" he muttered, his voice trailing off. "What the hell is going on..." Rouiler growled in annoyance, pulling out his cell phone to call the principal.

But the groundskeeper should've taken a closer look at his shed's interiors. Because unbeknownst to Michael Rouiler, the number of nails in his box of nails had been significantly reduced.

But no one knew about the lost nails, not even Milly. That is, except for the teddy bear she was carrying. If anyone had been looking closely at that moment, they would have noticed the black lines resembling streams of tears on Milly's face, as well as the fact that, for a moment, her teddy bear had grinned, very much like how a mischievous toddler might smile when planning on doing something naughty.

And if someone had looked into its smiling mouth, they would've seen that it was full of nails.

Given that Milly was already quite a distance away from Tamiya and Yumi however, they obviously couldn't get a closer look.

"Milly!" Tamiya cried out, trying to catch her friend's attention.

But even though she was in earshot, Milly didn't respond, and seemed to only run even faster than before.

"Agh! Why does she have to act like this?" Tamiya growled as she picked up the pace.

Yumi, being taller and having longer legs, could make longer strides and made more progress, catching up to Tamiya and passing by the younger girl trying to run faster to get her friend. And yet, much to Yumi's surprise, Milly proved to be faster than both of them. The two girls tried to catch Milly, but as the three weaved and ran through the forest, the red-head seemed to be getting further and further away, until Yumi and Tamiya reached the school courtyard, effectively returning to where they had started.

As the two caught their breath, Yumi decided to question Tamiya. "Has Milly always been this fast?"

Tamiya shook her head, "Milly's never been able to outrun me before."

"Okay then, this is getting stranger and stranger…" Yumi muttered, unsettled at how weird the situation was becoming.

As Yumi looked around, she saw Sebastian talking with Amare, Hugo, and Charlie. Amare saw Yumi and Tamiya, held up his hand to stop Sebastian from talking about whatever he was saying, and pointed at the two girls. Sebastian's eyes widened as he took notice of the duo, and he quickly walked up to them, followed by the other kids.

"Did you two find Solovieff?" he asked.

"No, and you really shouldn't have put her down like that. She and Tamiya nearly got electrocuted you know!" Yumi answered, giving Sebastian a glare.

"Yeah! Milly's really scared about what happened last night! I am too!" Tamiya agreed.

"We didn't mean to put any pressure on you two!" Hugo protested, "it's just, look, you said it yourself, Milly can't rely on that teddy bear as a security blanket forever!"

"Well, yeah, but…" Tamiya began, but immediately faltered as she remembered how she had given Milly a fair bit of grief about the teddy bear herself, and since she was roommates with her fellow junior journalist, technically speaking, she was the one who had pressured Milly the most about the teddy bear.

"Look, last night was…a bit uh, shocking, for lack of a better word," Amare said, managing a guilty smirk as everyone face-palmed at the pun he made, "and I think it's safe to say that all of us are a little bit shaken up over it."

"I had a nightmare about it last night…" Charlie mumbled, prompting his step-brother to put a hand to his shoulder.

Yumi let out a sigh, it was true. Last night was again, rather shocking, no pun intended. It wasn't too bad of course, no one was hurt, but it wasn't exactly the first thing that you'd expect from a night on the town…well, somewhat of a kid-friendly night on the town, of course. Even so, a power line breaking apart out of the blue was not something any of them had prepared for.

The older kids could recover from it relatively easily, but the younger ones, especially the ones who nearly got shocked from what happened...they were likely to still be scared from seeing a freak accident like that.

Silence filled the air. Then Sebastian spoke up.

"I'll admit, I'm not proud of letting my paranoia about that teddy bear come out like it did. And I'll say that that weird thing that happened last night was out of the ordinary too…" he said.

"And?" Yumi asked.

"Look, I don't want Solovieff ending up as some plushie-obsessed weirdo that lives in some deluded fantasy world all her life. That's why I'm not a fan of that teddy bear and why I find it creepy. Nothing more, nothing less." Sebastian admitted.

"Personally, I don't see it as being too weird, at least until today, 'cause you know, Milly's saying that it was walking by itself." Amare put in, before gesturing over to Hugo and Charlie. "Point is, we're willing to help her out, right guys? That's what friends are for."

The boy in the cap and his little orange-haired brother nodded.

"So yeah, we're going to help you two look for Solovieff." Sebastian agreed.

Having not known Sebastian all that well, Yumi was more than a tad surprised at how the Street Kid was willing to make up for his prior conduct. Tamiya, who did know Sebastian on the other hand, was not.

"Thanks guys." Tamiya said, grateful for their assistance.

Yumi found herself nodding with approval, finding that her decision to enroll in Kadic had proven to be a good one. The heartwarming moment was cut short however, as Jean-Pierre Delmas walked into the courtyard, with Michael Rouiler emerging from the park.

"You two!" Rouiler called out to Yumi and Tamiya.

Before everyone could move, Delmas and Rouiler had strode up close to their group.

"Alright Mr. Rouiler, what exactly is going on here? You called me saying that you needed to speak to me regarding the tool shed lock." Delmas said.

"Yes. Apparently, the lock was changed last night, and the door was left unlocked. Because of that, a student, one belonging to this group over here…" Rouiler explained, gesturing to the six students near him. "Ended up in the tool shed somehow."

"I see, why is this? And which student was it?" Delmas questioned, looking at the students.

"Um, well, Milly was a bit stressed out this morning, and she, kind of, sort of, ran off into the park, and then, um, ran into the tool shed." Tamiya said cautiously.

"So it was Ameila Solovieff then? Alright then Mr. Rouiler, we have our culprit." Delmas said.

The groundskeeper looked at his boss, clearly suppressing the urge to groan. "I already knew that." He grumbled before he began muttering under his breath. "You're as quick as a whip when it comes to wanting to get kids out of the alleyways, but you're slower than a snail when it comes to everyday trespassing..."

"Ah. Well then, do you all know where Ms. Solovieff is? I'm afraid that trespassing into the tool shed is off-limits, and I'll be administering the proper punishment." Delmas asked.

"We're trying to look for her right now. I think she's still on campus though." Yumi spoke up.

"Very well then, when you find her, please escort her to my office." Delmas said.

The six student-group nodded, then ran out of the school principal's way.

"Alright, I must ask, how on earth did you figure out that the lock was changed?" Delmas asked as he followed the gardener back to the tool shed.

"I used to be a locksmith before I became a groundskeeper. Unlike Jim, I'm willing to talk about it, but that's not important right now. What's important is figuring out how the lock changed, it's really quite strange." Michael Rouiler explained as the two adults walked into the park.

As for the students, they hid over at the school archways, thinking about what to do next.

"So now that we're all on the same page," Hugo said, "now what?"

"We split up and look for Milly." Yumi said.

"What if Solovieff's off campus?" Sebastian asked.

"Then we'll have to look for her out there…Okay. Four of us stay here on campus and try to look for Milly, while two of us head off campus and see if we can find her." Yumi explained.

"Why don't we just call her on her cell phone?" Charlie asked, stating the simple solution.

Silence filled the archways as everyone looked at Hugo's younger brother. Without another word, Tamiya quickly dialed Milly's number on her own cell phone and called her. Unfortunately for the group, they got a voicemail instead.

" _Hi, this is Milly, I'm not here right now, please leave a message, especially if it's newsworthy!"_ Milly's recorded voice message said. Likewise, no-one could hear a ringtone that might indicate that the red-haired journalist was nearby.

"Well, that was a bust." Sebastian deadpanned.

"Looks like we're going with the searching and finding tactic after all." Amare noted with a shrug.

"Looks like it." Sebsastian grumbled. "Okay, I know my way around the streets, so I volunteer to search off campus. Who else volunteers?"

"Me." Yumi replied immediately.

"You're not exactly the most knowledgeable about the streets here Ishiyama." Sebastian warned.

"Yeah, but earlier, Ulrich and Jeremie went out to try to see if they could find out something about why Milly's teddy bear came back." Yumi replied.

"We know, we heard it all earlier." Amare lampshaded.

"I didn't!" Tamiya protested.

"So you want to find Belpois and Stern, and see if they've dug up anything then?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, plus, then we'd have four people off campus looking for Milly, and, they've been here long enough to show me around town so I don't get myself lost. We get more people searching for Milly, and we can even put this mystery to rest." Yumi confirmed.

"All right, you got your cell phone? Let me add the numbers into your contacts." Sebastian said, holding out for Yumi's phone.

Yumi handed the mobile device to Sebastian, who added in the group's contact numbers. After a few minutes, he handed the phone back to Yumi.

"Best of luck then everyone." Amare said as the group split up.

Yumi and Sebastian ran down to the gate entrance.

"Okay, for now, I want you to follow me, I'm going to show you a few routes that you'll want to use while you're here." Sebastian said as he and Yumi ran into town. "Especially since that broken power line is in the way of the shortest route. After that, we'll see if Solovieff is in the underpass. If she isn't, we split up, and you try to find Belpois and Stern…I wonder how they're doing?"

* * *

All the events above happened when Jeremie and Ulrich had their first encounter with the strange black creatures. By the time Sebastian had showed Yumi to an alternate entrance to the maze of corridors in the underpass, the two boys had taken another route, the route that would get them to the police station as quickly as they could.

Unfortunately, the officer at the front desk was having a hard time believing what Jeremie had to say about their recent 'discovery'.

"Alright, let me get this straight, a bunch of black things came out of your laptop and attacked you with a robot arm..." the police officer at the front desk said.

"Yeah! Ghosts, uh, specters!" Jeremie said, holding the robot arm in front of the officer frantically.

"Specters..." the police officer muttered, typing in the information into his computer half-heartedly.

"Right, I think they might be some kind of electrical impulse emerging from the internet network, sort of like a computer virus! And that they might be causing all kinds of weird stuff around town!" Jeremie continued.

"So the ghost things were hacking into your computer, and using lightning to attack you and your friend…"

"Basically!" Jeremie said.

"Kid…That is single-handily the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my entire life." The officer deadpanned.

"But it happened! Tell him Ulrich!" Jeremie protested.

Ulrich turned around, ready to talk to the officer, only for two other officers to rush into the station, handcuffing a balding man with glasses. He had a dirty blond-colored beard and mustache, and wore a gray shirt and black pants. The man looked a tad injured, with bruises all over his body, and was grimacing in pain as the officers brought him in.

"Hold it! We've got a certain someone! Clear out the police station!" the female officer on the prisoner's left commanded.

"Beat it kids!" The officer at the front ordered.

Jeremie and Ulrich jumped as the man was brought to the desk. The deck officer looked him over, and then gasped in recognition.

"Is that Peter Duncan?" he asked, "we've been trying to catch him for two years now!"

"Yup, old Duncan here finally got unlucky, his van crashed last night and he was knocked out. Once we found him, we also got back everything he'd stolen on his latest theft!" the male officer said.

"I'm not up-to-date with that report..." the officer at the desk mused. "What'd he try to make off with?"

"He'd stolen several old art pieces, as well as several packs of photo-editing software. Not to mention some restoration hardware and a bunch of security codes from Deckard Inc." the female officer explained.

The officer at the front deck nodded seriously, deleting what he had been typing up concerning what Jeremie had tried to explain to him and replacing it with the details of Duncan's heist.

"I would've gotten away with it…" Duncan muttered in annoyance, "if it hadn't been for my van suddenly going out of control and crashing into a backway alley!" He growled at having to recall how embarrassing it was to have been caught like this. "Plus, those computer codes are useless, what with my laptop getting smashed before I could leak them." He growled quietly.

The male officer ignored Duncan as he continued to talk to his colleague at the front desk. "We're getting more officers on the scene, so we're going to lock up Duncan for now for questioning."

"Right. You might want to get him a doctor, the guy's got some nasty bruises." The front desk officer replied, taking notice of Duncan's battered frame.

"Will do." The female officer nodded, before seeing that Jeremie and Ulrich were still in the station.

"You kids have to leave!" She demanded. "This man is extremely dangerous! He's been responsible for art theft, kidnapping, safe cracking, bank robbery, and hacking!"

"Wait, when you said that- "Jeremie began, but he was interrupted.

"MOVE!" The female officer barked, prompting the two boys to hightail it out of the station.

After a few moments of running down the sidewalks, ignoring the sirens of the numerous police cars that were heading down the street to where Duncan had crashed, Jeremie and Ulrich sat down on a city bench.

Jeremie slipped the robot arm into his backpack.

"Well, that failed." Ulrich deadpanned.

"I've heard of Peter Duncan before, but even so, this is a lot more important!" Jeremie ranted. "I bet it was because of what happened last night that he crashed in the first place! It's those specters, it has to be them! They're responsible for everything that happened last night, and even before!"

"Let me guess, they came out of his computer and smashed up his car." Ulrich said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Pretty much! I'm convinced that it's some kind of computer virus." Jeremie affirmed.

"Jeremie, what kind of computer virus comes out as a bunch of ghosts?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't know for sure, but still, you were there too! You saw it! Besides, what other explanation do we have?" Jeremie questioned.

"None…" Ulrich grumbled, shivering from the arcane sight he had witnessed earlier. Maybe Peter Duncan HAD crashed thanks to the Specters...

"If only we had some sort of inspiration…something that we could use as a Eureka moment!" Jeremie growled in annoyance, pulling his laptop out of his pack and opening it up.

As Jeremie looked at the news articles that he had been on before the specters had burst out of his computer, he then snapped his fingers.

"I've got it!" he cried out, typing into the search tab a new internet address.

"Was that your 'Eureka' moment?" Ulrich deadpanned.

"Yes!" Jeremie replied gleefully, ignoring Ulrich's sarcasm, opening the site he wanted.

"Here it is, a site about the Billancourt Panic…" he murmured, gesturing for Ulrich to look at the site.

The two boys saw a website article that started off with a summary of the event;

" _On June 6, 1994, reports emerged in the Boulogne Billancourt area of a radiation leak. The government called for a mass evacuation of the Parisian suburbs, as well as the main city of Paris itself. According to official reports, it was the result of a project that was experimenting with new applications of nuclear energy via the usage of an experimental computer system, and as such was not bound to a singular facility. For an entire week, the populace was requested to not approach the city until the disaster was brought under control."_

Ulrich read over the summary again.

"So they managed to fix everything up right? I mean, no one's complaining about radiation leaks right now." He said.

"True, but look at part of this analysis." Jeremie pointed out, as he and Ulrich looked at another part of the piece.

" _While the government, as well as experts and officials, have stated that the disaster's radiation output was the same as that of Three Mile Island, as opposed to the far more severe Chernobyl disaster, there are still several noted discrepancies in how the disaster was treated. Most of the suburbs around the city were torn down and rebuilt, something which shouldn't have had to be done if the accident was as controllable as officials say, as it should've been restricted to the laboratories reported to have been involved with the experiment. Even more strange is that, in the days leading up to the disaster, there were reports of unusual seismic activity. Some investigation has shown that this activity may have stretched as far back as ten years before the Panic, with some speculating that this could've started at an even earlier date."_

"It doesn't say anything about disembodied computer ghosts you know." Ulrich pointed out, suspicious of the article.

Jeremie didn't respond, and continued to read. Not getting a response out of the bespectacled blond, Ulrich begrudgingly followed suit.

" _Since then, rumors about the truth of the disaster have persisted. From the 2 year-long reconstruction process, to the rise of criminal activity throughout the world and the rather abrupt technological advancements, specifically in information technologies and computer engineering, many theories have been brought forth about what exactly happened. The searches for evidence have not revealed anything of substance, and while many theories have been put forth, none of them have been proven. People have come to Boulogne Billancourt to discover the cause, but have all come up short. To this day, the mystery of the Billancourt Panic has yet to solved…"_

"So...do you have something?" Ulrich asked when Jeremie seemed to be done with the article.

"I have an...idea..." the computer genius murmured as he pulled up a program in his computer.

Ulrich watched as Jeremie typed code into the laptop for several minutes, before sighing, figuring that he might as well ask. "And what IS this idea of yours?"

"I'm running a program on the statistics for previous visits to town." Jeremie answered.

"...Why?" Ulrich asked, not getting what the computer genius was aiming for.

Jeremie pushed his glasses into place as he studied the data and ran the numbers through the program. "Well, first off, we have a strange event that happened in town today, and one that happened seven years ago...no sense in assuming that they're unrelated. Now let's see here...good, good..." he muttered before returning to the topic. "So, since we're dealing with a hypothetical situation, I figured that we look up a hypothetical solution!"

Ulrich raised an eyebrow at Jeremie's train of thought. "...There is no way that that's going to work."

"It's all we've got to go on." Jeremie replied, stretching as he pressed the 'Enter' key once again, watching as venn diagrams appeared on a map of the city, overlapping in some areas, showcasing densities of recorded visits to Boulogne Billancourt. The computer genius' eyes widened as he saw where more and more circles overlap, with the points of investigation becoming denser and denser in that overlap...

"...The old factory...the one that Sebastian claims is haunted..." Jeremie said at last, satisfied at his discovery.

"...You're going to have us head over there aren't you?" Ulrich deadpanned.

"Well, I was planning to go there in the first place anyways." Jeremie admitted, putting his laptop away and getting up from the bench.

"Okay, but, that place is just an old car factory, right? What could it have to do with computers, ghosts, and nuclear disasters?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, it's a fairly large facility, so if you were installing an experimental nuclear reactor, it could fit." Jeremie answered. "If you were to gut the whole place, I'm certain that it would be possible to install a complex computer system and laboratory. As for the ghosts, well, I'm sure SOMETHING had to happen for them to pop up."

"We don't have any other choice, do we?" Ulrich groaned.

"Pretty much." Jeremie replied.

Jeremie got on his scooter, and Ulrich followed suit with his skateboard, and the two traveled down the streets and sidewalks, heading for the factory. However, just as the two passed the underpass that they had used to get to the police office, Ulrich's phone began ringing, forcing him to come to a stop.

"Hold on!" he called out to Jeremie, who halted his scooter.

"What is it?" Jeremie asked.

"Phone call." Ulrich said, seeing an unfamiliar number calling him.

Cautiously, hoping that it wasn't a commercial, Ulrich answered his cell phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

" _Ulrich, this is Yumi."_ Yumi called from the other end.

"Yumi? Wait, how did you get my phone number?" Ulrich responded.

" _Milly's running all over campus. She's a complete wreck from last night and we're trying to find her before she gets into more trouble with Mr. Rouiler. I got your phone number from Sebastian, we went out looking for Milly in case she left school, and we split up after looking in the underpass. I'm trying to find you guys so you can help out, and plus…maybe you and Jeremie found something about the teddy bear?"_ Yumi divulged.

"Well, it's, kind of a weird story. Where are you right now?" Ulrich asked.

" _Still in the underpass, Sebastian left and I'm trying to find my way out. He told me about an exit close to the police station that I could use, and I'm leaving it_ right now…" Yumi replied, walking out of the underpass and coming face to face with the boys.

"Well, that's convenient!" Jeremie said, "you came just in time to help us out with we've found!"

"Wait what?" Yumi asked, already lost.

The three children walked down the streets, Ulrich and Jeremie holding onto their skateboard and scooter respectively. As they did so, Ulrich brought Yumi up to speed. The Japanese girl had the exact same reaction as the police did.

"So, the reason for all of the stuff that happened last night was because of some kind of computer virus that comes out as a bunch of black ghosts and possesses things like in some horror movie?" Yumi asked in disbelief.

"Pretty much." Ulrich deadpanned.

"Okay, forgive me for thinking that this explanation sounds like pure science fiction." Yumi replied.

"You weren't there," Jeremie said, "but how else does it explain how the teddy bear came to Milly on its own?"

"You think that Milly's teddy bear is possessed by a ghost that came out of a computer? How does that even work?" Yumi asked, mind boggled at the absurdity of the question she had just asked.

"It's hard to explain, but it did happen, like say…" Jeremie trailed off, pausing as he looked at a sight up ahead.

Ulrich and Yumi followed Jeremie's line of sight, and then saw it.

A black streak, floating about like a ghost, until it shot down an alleyway.

"Follow it!" Jeremie cried out, hopping on his scooter and turning around the corner.

"Now do you believe us?" Ulrich asked as he ran after Jeremie.

Yumi didn't reply as she followed Ulrich. However, none of them got very far. The alleyway was a dead end, and the specter had not phased out of it. Jeremie had hastily gotten off his scooter once he saw what was in the alleyway. The specter had curled itself around several piles of discarded rebar, like it was an anaconda about to swallow its prey.

"What's it doing?" Yumi asked, looking at the rather surreal sight.

The specter slowly opened what seemed to be its mouth, which was somehow far larger than the specter itself. It chomped on the rebar, slowly covering all of the piles in its darkness, until all of the rebar was coated with the specter's black form. After a few tense seconds, the darkened rebar faded away...dissolving like a tablet in water.

The three children looked on in shock, staring at the now empty alleyway. Eventually, Yumi cleared her throat.

"So uh, where IS this factory again?" she asked.

* * *

Tamiya had returned to the woods, looking for Milly. Still however, she had made no progress, and she had no idea if the others were having any luck themselves. She was just about to call Amare to see if they'd found any clues to finding Milly, only to hear some inaudible whispering. However, while she couldn't know what exactly was being said, she DID recognize a certain someone's voice.

"Milly!" Tamiya whispered, tiptoeing over to one of the larger trees.

"So, you're saying that I should introduce them to you?" Milly asked softly, a tone of mild excitement in her voice.

" _Yes, I will educate your friends about this scenario. I will teach them about the will of the world, as I have with you Milly."_ The voice said.

Tamiya, having not heard the conversation's details, made her presence known.

"There you are Milly!" she said, startling the red-hair.

"T-Tamiya?" Milly stammered, gripping her teddy bear defensively.

"I've been looking all over for you, and, hey, what's with your face?" Tamiya asked, noticing the black lines running down Milly's cheeks.

"What? What's wrong with my face?" Milly asked, worried.

"Um, nothing, nothing." Tamiya replied, shaking her hands to dismiss that train of thought.

The woods were silent for a few moments as Milly continued to grip her teddy bear. Tamiya sighed, then pulled out her cell phone.

"Amare? This is Tamiya, I've found Milly, get everyone else and find us here in the woods. We're going to have an intervention." She said.

" _Gotcha."_ Amare said from the other end.

Tamiya hung up and offered her hand to Milly. "Come on Milly, we need to talk. To everyone."

"Um…" Milly muttered, fidgeting her feet, until a voice spoke in her head.

" _Go on Milly, just keep me secret for now until everyone has gathered. Then, everything will be alright, just do what I told you."_

Milly nodded timidly and took Tamiya's hand. But when Tamiya had turned forward, she didn't notice a rather eerie smile creep onto Milly's face, nor the exact same smile being reflected on the teddy bear…

* * *

After navigating through the city streets, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi reached the abandoned district where the Renault factory was located. The factory itself was located on an island in the middle of the river, and was connected to the mainland via a road bridge. The bridge led to a large set of doors that marked the main entry into the complex.

Ulrich looked at the factory. Sebastian had said that the place was creepy, and Ulrich was now wondering if Sebastian's superstitions were correct for once. The atmosphere felt heavier, and there was a chill in the air.

Yumi had only heard of the factory from what Jeremie had told her about its history, and while she doubted that the facility was connected to the strange occurrences around town recently, she was feeling rather nervous in front of the place. But it was all just rumors right? The plant was shut down due to not being able to keep up with modern car building methods, nothing more, nothing less.

Even Jeremie, in his excitement, couldn't help but feel intimidated by the building. It wasn't as if the factory itself was creepy, but rather, the thought of whatever was inside of it that was foreboding. For a moment, he questioned why he'd made the decision to come here and drag Ulrich and Yumi along for the ride, but he pushed those questions out of his head and walked up to the large set of double doors.

"Well?" Yumi asked.

"I'm just seeing if there's a way to get in here." Jeremie murmured, examining the entrance.

"I'm just going to ask, aren't buildings like this checked regularly? It's probably locked or something…" Ulrich asked.

"It should be…" Jeremie said before noticing something on the ground, "but the fact that the lock and chain are broken probably speaks volumes about all of this."

"Wait, what?" Yumi asked, walking up to Jeremie, who was kneeling on the ground.

Jeremie got up, and presented a broken lock and chain to Ulrich and Yumi. The lock looked like it had been smashed, and the chain shattered into numerous fragments.

"So, the lock's broken. That doesn't prove anything." Ulrich said.

"Only one way to find out though, give me a hand!" Jeremie said, taking a deep breath and grabbing the side of the left door.

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other, a bit too long as they realized that they were checking each other out, blushed, and then got to work helping Jeremie open the door. Slowly, the rusted set of double doors began to budge, and move, until they had opened completely.

The early afternoon light filtered into the dark interior, and Jeremie took a tentative step forward. As Ulrich and Yumi followed him in, the features of the factory were finally exposed to them…and proved that this place was no longer a mere automobile factory.

The entire facility seemed more like some mad scientist's secret hideaway, filled with enormous machines that came straight out of a science fiction film. None of these structures looked anything like what a person would need to make cars. Enormous pipes, wires, and various television screens adorned a great deal of the facility, which was basically put, a maze of ominous-looking technology.

"Okay…maybe this place DOES have something to do with everything going on in town." Ulrich said, mouth handing wide open.

"Incredible…I can't believe that a place like this exists! Forget the scrap heaps! I could use this stuff in my robots for sure!" Jeremie exclaimed in awe.

Yumi shook her head, trying to stay focused. "Don't forget, we're supposed to find out if this place has anything to do with what's been happening…" her voice trailing off.

"I think I see a computer terminal up ahead!" Jeremie said, getting on his scooter and zipping over to a crook were many screens were gathered.

Ulrich and Yumi followed, as Jeremie pulled up an old rolling chair, and settled down in front of one of the screens.

"So uh, Jeremie, where's the 'On' button in this place?" Ulrich asked cautiously.

"No idea…" Jeremie muttered, deciding to press the 'Enter' key.

Computers, if not used for a while, enter sleep-mode. This enables them to save on power and preserve data in case someone needs to get back to it after leaving the computer for some time. It seemed that this computer system was in sleep-mode, because once Jeremie pressed the 'Enter' key, the computers turned themselves back on, screens blazing with light.

"Whoa!" Jeremie cried out, surprised by what he was seeing.

"Why did the computer start-up like that?" Yumi asked, a tad spooked.

"It was probably just in sleep-mode…" Jeremie muttered, as he examined the screen before him.

There was but one single folder on the desktop, having the name: ' _XANADU'._ Jeremie found a mouse, and clicked on the icon. At that moment, a set of files presented themselves to Jeremie, listed as: _'Interface', 'Assorted Files', 'Encryptions', 'Guide', and 'Message'_. Jeremie decided to click on the ' _Message'_ icon first, as Ulrich and Yumi gathered around him.

An audio file popped up on the screen, and started to play in a heavily distorted male voice:

" _To anyone who has found this, you have stumbled upon a great secret. I ask you to try to keep that secret. You have found my great project, an experiment that I led that created a virtual world. A virtual world that goes by the name of Xanadu, named after the ancient Mongolian city whose name has been used several times throughout history. I would like you to not shut-down this world, for this virtual world is connected to the real world, and if it is destroyed, then our world will be destroyed along with it. But within Xanadu, there is a computer virus, an extremely complex program whose existence threatens us all. I ask that whomever finds this, please, take my work, my notes, enter Xanadu, and stop this virus. For if it is not stopped, it will mean the end of the world regardless._

_Best regards, the Professor"_

All three children looked at each other in shock.

"Did he just say that the world's going to be destroyed?" Ulrich asked, mouth gaping open at the sudden turn their investigation had taken.

"Well, let me check his calculations…maybe he was exaggerating?" Jeremie said nervously, opening up the ' _Assorted Files'_ folder and looking for the calculations that this, Professor, had spoken of.

"This, this can't be real." Yumi murmured quietly, shocked at how something like this could even exist.

"Yeah, but…" Ulrich started, but, still in shock about the recent turn of events, he stopped talking.

Both Ulrich and Yumi were silent as Jeremie examined the files left behind by the so-called Professor. To think that the sudden appearance of electric ghosts was caused by some kind of supernatural computer virus was a result of some mad scientist's work in an abandoned factory. It was far above their heads, and yet, here it was. So many questions flashed through their heads. Why was this place built? What was its purpose? What exactly happened that went so wrong? How bad was this virus? What kind of mess had they gotten themselves into?

After a few minutes, Jeremie rolled away from the interface, and wiped his glasses.

"Anything?" Yumi asked.

"I've looked over this guy's calculations, he wasn't lying. If we try to blow this place up with dynamite, or find and hit the shut-down switch, if there is one, we'll probably end up causing the entire universe to implode in on itself." Jeremie replied.

Both Ulrich and Yumi's eyes widened.

"Please tell me you're joking." Ulrich begged.

"Since when have I ever told a decent joke?" Jeremie asked.

"Never." Ulrich grumbled.

"How can you understand all of that?" Yumi asked in shock, walking up to the monitor and looking at the mathematical formulas that had been written down on a series of paper sheets that had been photographed and scanned into a PDF file. To be blunt, she couldn't comprehend a single equation that the 'Professor', or whoever it was, had written.

"I've studied equations like these before…somewhat." Jeremie said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "But the major factor was that they've been annotated in several places."

Yumi took a second look at the equations, scrolling through the file. Jeremie was right, there were in fact several annotations in place, as if the person writing the equations was creating a summation of what the formulas represented. Unfortunately, said annotations included yet more formulas before getting to written words that explained the scientific principles behind…whatever it was that ran this computer system. Yumi guessed that it was the scientific principles and what seemed to be the simpler equations that Jeremie was able to comprehend.

"I still don't understand it." Yumi grumbled.

Ulrich walked over and looked at the monitor himself. "I'm lost." He said bluntly.

"But what's in there is correct, you have my assurance." Jeremie tried to reassure the two.

Ulrich and Yumi were not completely reassured.

"Okay, okay, so all of this, those ghosts, those cables, those accidents, Milly's teddy bear, all of it's been caused by a super-powerful computer virus inside this, virtual world called Xanadu. Apparently, we need to go into this virtual world to stop this virus, instead of just having a demolition crew destroy this place. How the hell do we do that?" Yumi asked.

In response to Yumi's question, Jeremie rolled back over to the computer and clicked the _'Interface'_ icon. The computer screen morphed and changed, as several new windows popped up, with specialized programs for each of them.

"I think this is how. There's a program here that activates a procedure that allows us to go into the virtual world. The only question is, what's going to be used to get people in there." Jeremie explained.

"And that would be?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremie clicked on the _'Guide'_ icon, which brought up a text file giving a brief run-down of how to operate the supercomputer. He quickly read it over, and turned to look at Ulrich and Yumi.

"According to this, we're going to be using a device known as a Scanner. They're right above us, take that staircase over there and you'll find three open columns. Once you're in and I type in the right commands, you'll be transported to Xanadu, although…" Jeremie replied, though his voice trailed off.

"Let me guess, there's a catch." Yumi groaned.

"Yup, going into those Scanners without some kind of protective bodysuit will cause people to take on a form relative to their subconscious, which also comes with a set of well, superpowers." Jeremie replied.

"That doesn't seem so bad." Ulrich ventured.

"Superpowers that will stay with you in the real world." Jeremie finished.

Ulrich and Yumi raised an eyebrow. Superpowers in the real world? Now this was making even less sense than before.

"Wait, so, if we go in there, we'll get superpowers, but we'll be able to keep those powers in the real-world…Please tell me we'll be able to control them." Yumi begged, groaning in apprehension.

Jeremie looked back over on that part of the guide. He scratched his chin in thought.

"From what it says in here, I'm going to guess that they're controllable, as long as no one tries to experiment on anyone." He said at last.

"If we go in there, please promise us that you won't do that." Ulrich groaned.

"When dealing with something like this? I'm going to guess that doing experiments like that had _some_ side-effects on this place. Besides, I'm a computer engineer, not a biologist." Jeremie reassured. "No sense in attempting something I don't know anything about."

Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other, both nervous about the scenario that had been presented to them. On the one hand, a part of them wanted to tell the police about the situation, but after Ulrich and Jeremie had been brushed aside, the brown-haired martial artist wasn't sure that the police would even believe them. Not only that, but entering this virtual world would permanently alter them. Jeremie said that they'd only retain the abilities that they'd develop from going to this place, but who knew if this equipment would even work properly? Of course, not doing anything would make things worse.

Ultimately, it was Ulrich who spoke up.

"Well, if the cops didn't believe us, we might as well solve this ourselves." Ulrich declared.

"Alright." Yumi said, still apprehensive, but, having heard of the story from Ulrich, had come to the same conclusion as he had.

Both she and Ulrich climbed up the stairs to the scanners, right where Jeremie said they would be. Jeremie studied the program guide to using what was called the virtualization, and typed in the commands carefully. After he had done so, two new icons appeared on the screen. The guide called them I.D. cards, which stored the data of whomever was virtualized in Xanadu.

Jeremie was just about to hit the 'Enter' key to virtualize Yumi and Ulrich, when his cell phone started ringing.

"Ugh. Hold up guys! I'm getting a call!" Jeremie called up.

"Same here!" Yumi replied.

Both answered their phones. Jeremie was being called by Amare, while Yumi was being called by Sebastian.

" _Yo, Jeremie, Tamiya's found Milly, and she wants us back for some kind of intervention. You need to be able to come by."_ Amare called.

"Sorry Amare, something came up, can't do it right now! Sorry!" Jeremie said hurriedly, hanging up.

As for Yumi: _"Ishiyama, you find Belpois and Stern yet?"_ Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, but, well, we may have found something that could be linked to the whole 'teddy bear coming back on its own' thing. Not entirely sure though. I'll let you all know if we've actually found anything important." Yumi replied.

" _You sure?"_ Sebastian asked, his tone of voice suggesting suspicion.

"Yes." Yumi replied.

" _Well, if you've found it, congrats."_ Sebastian grumbled, hanging up.

With the phone calls done and over with, Jeremie looked back to his progress. The virtualization program was ready. It was time to take the leap of faith.

"You two ready?" Jeremie called.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Yumi replied.

"Hmph." Ulrich grunted in the affirmative.

"All right, let's do it!" Jeremie said, pressing the 'Enter' key.

The scanner doors shut, and in the scanners, both Ulrich and Yumi felt a powerful gust of wind from beneath them. Then, there was a blinding light, forcing the two to shut their eyes tight. When the wind died down and the two felt that the bright light from the scanner was gone, they opened their eyes.

And what they saw put them in a state of awe…

* * *

Meanwhile, the other children were gathering in the park. Amare had met Sebastian when the boy had returned from his street trek, and they both recounted their conversations to Jeremie and Yumi respectively. Hugo and Charlie hadn't made any progress in finding Milly, though Charlie swore that he saw something moving while he and his brother had been checking the dorms.

The four boys gathered in a clearing in the middle of the woods, with Milly and Tamiya joining them shortly.

"Okay, everyone's here, except for…where are Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi?" Tamiya asked.

"They think they've found something regarding the uh, you know." Amare said, referring to the teddy bear.

"So, everyone's here then except for them…" Milly muttered, keeping her head low. "...That's too bad..."

"Eh, if they've found something, best not to disturb them. But even so, the topic at hand, what happened last night. Everyone raise your hands if you found it terrifying." Amare said, keeping an even tone.

Everyone raised their hands.

"See Milly? Everyone found it scary." Tamiya said.

Milly lowered her hand and just gripped her teddy bear, not replying.

Sebastian sighed, "look Solovieff, I'm sorry about earlier. But, how do I put this delicately…"

"You mean without being an asshole?" Amare chuckled.

Sebastian shot Amare a glare, only for Hugo to speak up in the Street Kid's stead.

"Charlie, let's tell Milly what happened when we got back last night." Hugo told his brother.

"Uh…sure." Charlie murmured nervously, "well, I was uh…"

"He was crying." Hugo put in bluntly.

"I wasn't!" Charlie protested, but he faltered.

"Charlie was freaked out completely, he kept on bawling and crying. I can't blame him." Hugo said calmly.

"It was, so, so…scary! Why did that happen?!" Charlie bawled, running up to his older brother, perfectly showcasing what had happened when the two had gotten back to their dorm room.

"But you know what I said to him? You want to know how I calmed down this little crybaby?" Hugo asked rhetorically.

"I'm not a crybaby!" Charlie interrupted, wiping his eyes grumpily, despite more tears already welling up in his eyes.

Hugo ignored his brother and just gave a lazy grin, "I'll tell you. First off, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If that power line didn't hurt us then, then it isn't hurting any of us right now. It's okay. It was all probably just a freak accident. You shouldn't be freaking out over every little thing, otherwise, you'll just end up going crazy. It's all right now."

Milly stared at Hugo and Charlie blankly, and then started to stare at them a bit longer than what would be considered normal.

"Point is Milly, that power cable scenario was dangerous, I'm not going to lie, contact with it probably would've killed you." Hugo said.

"Not helping!" Tamiya growled.

"But it didn't touch you, and so it didn't hurt you. Most importantly…" Hugo continued without missing a beat, only to have his 'Big Brother Lecture' be cut off again, this time, by Milly herself.

"Shut up." She commanded.

"Huh?" Hugo asked, startled.

"You don't care if I'm hurt or not! You just want to take Teddy from me! That's what all of this is! You all hate him! You don't think he's real!" she yelled hysterically, the black lines on her face becoming thicker and more noticeable.

"Sure he's real." Amare said casually, causing Milly to snap her head towards him. "You're holding the thing, and we can all see it. It's definitely real."

"I don't think that what she meant." Sebastian face palmed, starting to feel nervous and claustrophobic as he saw the black lines become more prominent on Milly's face, along with her increasingly crazed glare.

"You don't think he came back by himself! You all want to give me your so-called 'comfort', when he gives me everything I need! And he'll give you all what you need too!" Milly ranted madly.

"What are you talking about Milly?! He's not alive, he's just a toy!" Tamiya asked.

It was then that the teddy bear wriggled out of his owner's grip, and landed on the ground, walking in front of his owner. Then, he started talking, his mouth moving very much like a human's, which proved to be a rather disturbing effect.

"As you can clearly see, I am in fact, alive." He said in a rather deep and monotonous voice.

Silence filled the air for several moments as the other children registered what had just happened.

"IT'S EVIL! I KNEW IT WAS EVIL! KILL IT!" Sebastian screamed in a panic, running over to kick the teddy bear. Unfortunately, the stuffed animal jumped up and then countered Sebastian by punching him right in the gut, knocking the wind out of the boy and forcing him back.

Sebastian staggered, then fell onto the ground, clutching his stomach and trying to breathe again.

"Sebastian!" everyone except for Milly cried out, gathering around him.

Tamiya then looked at Milly who was smiling as if the bear had given Sebastian a hug instead of a punch.

"Milly, what's going on?" Tamiya asked, frightened.

Milly didn't answer, because the teddy bear answered instead. "It's quite simple you see. I am acting out the Will of the World. Dear Milly has accepted that Will, and I intend to educate all of you about it as well."

"Okay, the teddy bear is talking like some pretentious anime villain, now I KNOW it's evil." Hugo muttered.

"He's not evil!" Milly protested, dumbfounding everyone else.

"He just…" Sebastian wheezed in disbelief, "punched me!"

"You deserved it!" Milly yelled.

"And I will do much more than merely punch you." The teddy bear growled.

At that moment, the creature grew in size, until it was eight feet tall, then, from both of the teddy bear's arms, five large blades burst out of the stuffing, acting as impromptu fingers. The bear opened its mouth, revealing a large bear trap for teeth, held in place by numerous nails. Rebar grew out from the teddy bear's legs, and five more blades each burst out of the bottom of the teddy bear's legs to act as toes for the feet. The teddy bear's eyes began to glow a harsh red, as the left eye became covered in metal. Numerous needles and nails popped out of the teddy bear's fur, while its chest seemed to leak stuffing before revealing numerous computer chips and wires embedded in it.

"Now, I will teach you all the meaning of The Will of the World." The teddy bear said, flexing its new appendages.

"RUN!" Amare cried out, and everyone immediately scattered.

Tamiya immediately grabbed Milly's hand, running past the Terminator-like teddy bear and dragging her friend along with her in order to escape. Strangely enough, Milly made no attempt to resist.

Now alone, the teddy bear merely sighed.

"Such a shame you all do not wish to learn about the truth children. But you will learn. You will one day face the reality of the world, even if I am not here to assist on that day." He sighed with pity.

Needles, threaded along thin metal wires, burst out of the teddy bear's back.

"Regardless of how you will face the end, you cannot escape the Will of the World…" He muttered as the threads began to spread, weaving around the trees…

* * *

"Wow…" Ulrich said in awe.

"Wh-what is this place?" Yumi asked, equally astounded by where she and Ulrich now were.

The two were standing in the clearing of a dense forest, with the midday sun shining brightly upon them. The forest was made up of deciduous trees, and was on the side of a large slope. As such, Yumi and Ulrich were able to take in not just the trees and sky, but also the enormous lake that they could see below them, as well as the unusual sight of the enormous pillars in the distance, with gigantic cables connected to their bases. In addition to this, both were expecting that a virtual world would look more, blocky, like a video game. Instead, the grass looked and felt like real grass and the trees had the details you might expect from an actual tree. They were also expecting that they would appear with 3D graphics, akin to a video game, but everything around them looked and felt like it belonged in the real world. Taking a deep breath of the crisp forest air, it felt like they had truly arrived in an entirely real, living world.

With of course, the exception being that Ulrich was dressed as a samurai, and Yumi was clothed like a geisha. Once the two figured out that little tidbit, they were quick to react. And by quick to react:

"WHAT THE-?" Ulrich asked, looking at his and Yumi's clothing.

"Um? Why do we look like this?!" Yumi asked, never being the type of person to wear kimonos or yukatas unless she had no choice.

" _So you two are in! That's great!"_ Jeremie said, voice being transmitted to the duo.

"Yeah, and we look like video game characters!" Yumi said indignantly.

"Why are my pants so baggy?" Ulrich asked in disbelief, not used to traditional samurai wardrobe.

" _I did say that you'd take on a form derived from your subconscious."_ Jeremie pointed out. Before either Ulrich or Yumi could continue talking however, Jeremie was quick to put them in place. _"Regardless of what you two look like, need I remind you that we're trying to find and destroy a computer virus that could be doing who-knows-what right now?"_

That stopped Yumi and Ulrich from commenting, and the two instead took tentative steps, trying to get used to their new forms. Surprisingly enough, they felt that they could move as easily as they did in the real world, even with the long sleeves and baggy pants weighing them down. It felt…natural to them.

"Okay, so, what about the powers then?" Ulrich asked.

" _I don't know what they are, sorry. Right now, I'm looking through the guide here, and I've found a program that needs to be installed."_ Jeremie replied.

"What program?" Yumi asked, stretching her arms.

" _A weapon program. I'm guessing that it's to allow you to fight off the virus."_ Jeremie replied.

"Nice to know that we won't be defenseless." Ulrich muttered, engaging in several high kicks to get used to fighting in his new clothes.

"So, what do we now? Wait or start exploring?" Yumi asked.

" _Hmm,"_ Jeremie mused, trying to think of a strategy, _"I have a full screen view of where you two are. I can tell you two if you're about to be attacked…and oh crap."_

Upon hearing those two last two words, Ulrich and Yumi immediately got into fighting position.

"What is it?" Yumi asked nervously, her guard up.

" _It's a ghost! Coming on your left!"_ Jeremie warned.

The samurai and the geisha turned around, and saw what appeared to be a floating shadow blob creeping towards them. It was doing so rather slowly, and jumped upon seeing Ulrich and Yumi's sudden actions. The air was tense as the two looked upon the monster, which was now in the clearing. It turned what seemed to be its head towards Ulrich, then Yumi, and then Ulrich again.

Then, the creature crouched, and then pounced at Ulrich, shooting at him like a cat about to catch a mouse.

"AHH!" Ulrich screamed, running away from the monster. But when he stopped moving, he and Yumi found out something rather incredible.

Ulrich was much farther away from the creature than he would have assumed for one thing, and for another reason, the creature had stopped in midair as if something had arrested its movement. It was now struggling to move.

Yumi looked at the ghost, and started to feel a large amount of exhaustion, and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.

The ghost unfortunately, was now starting to move again, and began to shake itself violently, once again looking at Ulrich and Yumi wildly. This time however, the ghost turned its attention to Yumi, and rose up into the air, gathering momentum…before dashing towards her at high speed.

"YUMI!" Ulrich cried out, and he ran at the specter.

But as Ulrich ran, from the monitor, Jeremie noticed the blue light trail Ulrich was leaving behind, as the samurai ran at high speed and tackled the specter to the ground. The specter thrashed about in Ulrich's grasp, and soon managed to slip away, but was quite dazed from the recent offensive. The A.I. was confused, who were these strange beings that appeared in the middle of the forest? Whatever they were, they were a threat to the mission, and the specter started to get its bearings back, preparing to eliminate these intruders.

Ulrich got up from the ground, only to collapse from exhaustion himself. He looked at the specter, which began to hover over the two like a vulture.

"Jeremie, what was all of that?" Yumi asked, paying attention to Ulrich after his sudden high-speed run.

" _It's to safe to say that those were your powers."_ Jeremie explained, _"It looks like Ulrich's got some kind of super-speed, but I don't know what your power is yet Yumi…I think you used it…but it wasn't as noticeable as Ulrich's. But be careful, that thing looks like it's about to attack again!"_

The specter did attack again, wasting no more time, and dived at Ulrich. Ulrich shot up and tried to get out of the way, only to trip on a tree root. But just as the specter thought that it could kill Ulrich, it found that it had stopped moving once again.

The reason soon became clear. Yumi, holding her hand out as if she was reaching out for Ulrich, was glowing with a bright blue aura, which was also surrounding the specter, as if it was gripped in a vice. Ulrich and Jeremie, looking on, were stunned.

" _So that's it! Telekinesis!"_ Jeremie chirped.

Having used up even more of her stamina however, Yumi quickly collapsed in exhaustion again. However, the time she'd bought Ulrich had been enough for him to get out of the specter's way as it escaped Yumi's telekinetic grip and slammed into the ground. The creature remained silent aside from the deep, monotonous, droning sound it normally gave off, but it was becoming rather annoyed.

Not that it would have time to stay annoyed. At the terminal, Jeremie watched as a screen indicating the charge-up for weapons showed that Ulrich and Yumi's weapons were ready.

" _Ulrich, Yumi, your weapons are charged and ready to go!"_ he called.

"When I can move again, I'll get back to you on that…" Yumi groaned, dizzy from the exertion of using her new powers so suddenly.

Ulrich quickly felt around, looking at his waist, and saw the katana sheathed on his belt. Wasting no time, he drew the blade, which was made from blue binary code, and rushed at the specter with his Super speed.

Before the creature knew what had happened, it found itself cut to ribbons, and dissolved into nothing.

Ulrich panted from his own exertion, and collapse, his adrenaline rush wearing off. As he rested, he took notice of the sword that he was now carrying.

"Whoa." He breathed quietly in awe.

" _Glad you like it."_ Jeremie said. _"But we still need to find out how those ghost monsters are attacking the real world. I'm looking through the guide on Xanadu to look for it. But if you two can spot anything from where you two are that I can't see, go investigate it."_

Ulrich looked in the distance, then saw what seemed to be another black blob circling around a tower not too far away, the tower that just seemed to rest on the shore of the lake.

"I saw one of those monster things, on the tower, over there!" he pointed.

Yumi slowly got up, followed Ulrich's finger, and then saw the same thing.

"He's right!" she confirmed.

" _Head over there right now!"_ Jeremie ordered, _"who knows what's happening in town right now?"_

The samurai and the geisha nodded, and immediately headed over to the tower.

* * *

At that moment, what was happening in town was focused in the park of Kadic Academy. There, Amare, Charlie, Hugo, and Sebastian were all running for their lives from the murderous, yet philosophical terminator teddy bear. As for Milly and Tamiya, the dark-skinned girl was desperately trying to get a response out of Milly, but the girl maintained a blank doll-like expression on her face, and she put up no resistance as Tamiya dragged her along. Tamiya had hidden herself and Milly behind a large tree, but knew that it was only a matter of time before 'Teddy' came and killed them.

"Milly! Please, wake up!" Tamiya begged.

Milly did not respond, only turning her head to look at Tamiya. It was funny how her friend thought she could avoid Teddy. She couldn't avoid him, none of them could, or would. Milly just kept on smiling, staring into the sky happily.

A distance away, Amare, Charlie, and Hugo were looking at the space between some of the trees. Threads of metal wire were crisscrossing between the trunks and branches like spider-webs, preventing them from getting out of the woods, or getting to a distance where they could be heard crying for help. They couldn't even touch the razor-sharp wires, lest they cut into their hands.

"I'm not liking this." Amare muttered.

"Wh-what's going to happen Hugo!?" Charlie whimpered, failing to hold back his tears of fear.

"We'll be alright." Hugo comforted, if only to calm down his brother. But Hugo, like his brother, was terrified of what was going on, with his heart beating in a frenzied panic.

On the other side of the woods, Sebastian had also noticed the barrier of wires, and was looking for a way to escape. The only problem was that he hadn't found one. He was just about to try digging a hole to get underneath the wires, only to hear heavy footsteps.

Sebastian's breathing stopped for a moment as he registered what was coming after him. Quickly, he looked for a way to get out of the corner he was in, and he slowly inched forward to an escape position. Just in time too, because once he reached the point that would allow him to slip out of an attack, the bear stomped into view, a deep mixture of a growl and a whirling noise escaping his bear-trap maw.

"Now then child, accept the Will of the World! Allow me to slay you!" the bear commanded.

"Uh…NO!" Sebastian replied, legs shaking in fear.

"Your defiance will earn you nothing!" the bear snarled, jumping at Sebastian, claws drawn.

Sebastian managed to summon the strength to duck out of the teddy bear's way and ran back into the woods. Unfortunately, the monstrous creation was behind him, and it was starting to catch up.

"Why do you run boy? The Will of the World has determined that you must perish! Why do you resist the natural course of things?" the teddy bear asked.

"Because I don't want to die you crazy-ass monster!" Sebastian shot back. "I'm not going to get killed by some terminator bear thing that came to life because…something! What the hell did Solovieff do? Make a deal with some kind of evil devil plushy to bring you to life?"

Teddy chuckled grimly. "No, no, nothing like that. I merely came to life after Milly dropped me in the streets last night. After which, as I lay there, I felt a great spark come through me, and thus, I awakened to find myself mobile! I immediately set upon a journey to return to Milly, and as you saw, I succeeded in that quest! Since then, I have been filled with two ambitions, to ensure that Milly is happy, and to fulfill the Will of the World, which I have explained to her."

"Okay, so you're possessed by some kind of demon then! I'm dreaming, I must be dreaming!" Sebastian laughed madly, his sense of reason on its last legs.

"This is no dream, boy, and my brethren and I are not demons! We come to fulfill the Will of the World, and it is through this vessel that we shall do so! When you, and the others who made Milly suffer perish, the rest of humanity shall join them! One way or another, your perception of what the world is will die!" the bear ranted, getting closer to Sebastian than the boy would've preferred.

Before Sebastian could respond, he heard the voices of Amare, Charlie, and Hugo.

"What the heck?!" Amare cried out as the three boys reached a clearing, and saw Sebastian being chased down by the terminator/stuffed animal.

"RUN! RUN! RUN! He's crazy! That thing's crazy! It's talking like a crazy cultist! He's trying to kill us! Run, RUN FAR AWAY!" Sebastian yelled in a complete and utter panic, picking up speed.

That did the job, Amare split away from Hugo and Charlie, and the two brothers ran in another direction. Sebastian turned right when he reached the clearing, and Teddy stopped to look around.

"So you intend to make me choose…" he murmured. "Very well, I shall play this game of hide-and-seek."

Teddy looked down at the footprints that Hugo and Charlie had left behind.

"I shall attack you two next." The bear monster hissed, running after them.

Back to Milly and Tamiya, Tamiya kept on trying to get Milly's attention, but Milly did not seem interested in talking, only humming gently to herself.

"Milly! Please! Why aren't you answering?" Tamiya begged, tears leaking from her eyes. "Why do you love that teddy bear so much? He's trying to kill us!"

"Because that's what Teddy needs to do." Milly finally replied, now staring at her best friend with a blank expression.

"What?" Tamiya asked, in shock from what Milly had said, and how that had been how she'd finally gotten Milly to respond to her.

"Teddy needs to do this. He explained everything, it's the Will of the World." Milly answered vaguely.

"You're not making any sense!" Tamiya cried angrily. "The will of the world!? What are you talking about Milly!?"

"Teddy says that we have to help him carry out the Will of the World." Milly said, chuckling, not answering Tamiya's question. "I can see it, Tamiya. I see the darkness of the new world. I can see... _her_. We're going to live in a new era. Isn't that great! It's a great scoop! A scoop that we get to have, all thanks to Teddy! And you said that he would hurt my chances of being a journalist!"

Tamiya was utterly horrified at the insanity that was coming out of Milly's mouth. The dark-skinned girl stood up, backing away from her friend, and then the realization of what was going to happen dawned on her. She was going to die. Everyone was going to die because of some kind of haunted teddy bear monster. To make matters worse, Milly had been brainwashed by him, and it didn't seem like she was going to exit whatever trance she was in.

Tamiya shakily walked over to another tree, knelt down, and started to cry from the sheer fear and despair of the situation. This was it. Game over.

Milly crawled over to Tamiya, and gently embraced her friend.

"It's okay Tamiya." Milly consoled. "If you apologize to Teddy, I'm sure he'll forgive you. You at least wanted to help me, but those big kids and their baby brother didn't. While Teddy deals with them, I'll teach you what he taught me. There's nothing to worry about. You'll learn all about the Will of the World just like how I did. So don't cry. I don't like it when you cry."

Milly started to hold Tamiya more tightly, holding Tamiya's hands in her own, holding an iron grip that caused a shriek of pain from Tamiya.

"Milly, stop!" she whined quietly.

"There's no need. Just, allow me to show you what the Will of the World wants." Milly whispered quietly into Tamiya's ear, before giving it a gentle nibble, hugging her friend even tighter than before, in an attempt to force Tamiya onto the ground.

"I-!" Tamiya started, horrified as she felt herself feeling a mixture of drowsiness and ecstasy, until she suddenly remembered her conversation with Yumi earlier.

_'It depends on the situation, there are a lot of times where if trouble is heading your way, you have to run away in order to deal with it, but there are also times where you have to fight with everything you've got.'_

Tamia realized something as she felt the mental fog creeping into her vanish. This was one of those times of danger where she would have to fight. Tamiya would not lose Milly this easily. She wouldn't allow Milly to stay under the teddy bear's brainwashing. She had to make Milly see reason, and she had to do it now!

"NO!" Tamiya cried, elbowing Milly, breaking out of the brainwashed girl's grip. Milly didn't let out a verbal response of any kind at the blow, but when Tamiya turned around, a look of betrayal was clearly evident in Milly's eyes.

"Tamiya...why?" Milly asked softly. "Teddy said that I had to introduce you to the Will...he said it'd make you understand...that _she_ would tell you everything..."

"No Milly! Teddy is messed up! He's crazy! He's a monster! He's brainwashed you! He wants you to think that hurting people is good!" Tamiya replied, defiant.

Milly looked at Tamiya with another blank stare for a second, then charged at the dark-skinned girl like a bull, tackling her to the ground and pinning her arms down with a demonic strength.

"TEDDY'S GOOD! HE PROTECTS ME! HE'LL MAKE SURE THAT NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS TO ME AGAIN!" Milly roared, the black lines on her face becoming jagged.

"HE'S PROTECTING YOU FROM WHAT?!" Tamiya yelled, struggling.

"FROM EVERYTHING THAT WANTS TO HURT ME! YOU, EVERYONE ELSE, AND THOSE CABLES!" Milly shrieked in reply.

At this, Tamiya stopped struggling, and looked at Milly dead in the eye.

"I've never wanted to hurt you Milly." Tamiya said calmly, but firmly. "Sure, we fight sometimes, and sure, I don't think much of needing something like a teddy bear to protect myself, but that never means I've wanted to hurt you. Neither did the others. Sebastian and the others are only creeped out by that teddy bear because you keep relying on it! You can't rely on a security blanket forever!"

"HE'S MY GUARDIAN! NOT MY SECURITY BLANKET!" Milly protested, gripping Tamiya even tighter, though Tamiya noticed tears starting to form in Milly's eyes.

"It's because of last night right? That's why you're so scared, that's why Teddy got into your head!" Tamiya said, striking the heart of the issue.

"It happened so fast! We could've died!" Milly cried, tear streaming down her face, slowly erasing the black marks that had formed.

"But we didn't die!" Tamiya exclaimed firmly. "We survived! It was just a freak accident! Ulrich saved you, and Yumi saved me! Both of us were saved by people, not teddy bears!"

"So?" Milly asked, her voice becoming lower.

"So we lived! It's just like what Hugo said! You can't freak out over every little thing! You don't need a teddy bear to protect yourself from every little thing!" Tamiya answered.

The black marks on Milly's face started to return, "I DO NEED HIM!" Milly protested, though her increasingly distressed face indicated second thoughts on that.

"He's trying to kill all of us! He's just some crazy teddy bear monster that popped out of nowhere, and he brainwashed you! You don't need a monster to help you!" Tamiya replied confidently.

"I-I, but, but." Milly groaned, getting off Tamiya and clutching her head in pain.

Tamiya got up, and didn't let up. "While I was trying to find you, Yumi came along to help. While we were doing that, I asked her just how we were supposed to deal with something like this! I was scared too Milly! Out of my mind, and everything looked scary!"

"Teddy's not scary! He's…" Milly began, but Tamiya interrupted her.

"NO! Teddy's not a good guy!" Tamiya retorted. "Listen to me, Milly, Yumi told me that whenever trouble is heading our way, there's a lot of times where we have to run, but that there's also times where we have to stand our ground and fight! Like I'm doing now! I'm not going to let you be that monster's brainwashed puppet!"

"But…" Milly muttered, the black lines on her face fading away again.

Tamiya rushed forward, and gripped her friend in a tight embrace. This wasn't anything like the disturbing, seductive hug that Milly had pulled on Tamiya, this was an actual hug, an envelopment of comfort, to let Milly know that she was not alone. And Tamiya was determined to ensure that Milly wasn't ever alone.

"I'm here for you Milly! Everyone is! Please, just, come back! If that teddy bear is really your friend, have him stop!" Tthe dark-skinned yelled, not letting go of the red-hair.

That did it. Milly looked at her best friend and blinked. The black lines then faded from her face completely, crumbling away like chipping paint, and Milly returned the hug. The two girls stayed like that for a few seconds, before parting. Tamiya breathed a sigh of relief to see Milly's face no longer marred by the disturbing markings or creepy facial expressions.

"I went crazy, didn't I?" Milly hesitantly asked after a few more seconds.

"You did." Tamiya said, smirking.

"I'm, I'm sorry Tamiya! I was just so scared! I didn't know what to think, and I lost one of the few things from home that I brought with me! Something to remind me of my parents! I-I just didn't want…" Milly said, only for Tamiya to pull her into another hug.

"It's okay Milly! We're going to get through this!" Tamiya said confidently.

Even though their opponent was the terminator if he was a crazy teddy bear.

It was then that the boys ran into the area, and crashed into one another, falling onto the ground right in front of the two girls.

"Um, are you guys okay?" Tamiya asked.

"I've been better…" Amare muttered, rubbing his head.

Sebastian looked at Milly, and saw that the black markings that had been on her face were gone, along with her malevolent crazed expression.

"Oh? So you're sane again Solovieff? Great! Maybe you can make Mister Crazy Bear not kill us!" he snarled sarcastically. Sebastian feared it would be the last thing he said. Because Mister Crazy Bear was coming from the direction that Hugo and Charlie had been running from.

And he wasn't happy. He was just crazy. And glaring at the children while looking like a feral Terminator. Feral Terminators tend to freak children out.

* * *

"Wow, this took a while." Yumi quipped, having recovered her strength, much to her surprise.

Ulrich nodded quietly, running at normal speed along with Yumi, as the two navigated the terrain of the virtual world. The area they were in was heavily forested and mountainous, making crossing it rather difficult. Ulrich had tripped in several places, and Yumi had to use her telekinesis to keep him from tumbling down the hills. She found that she was getting used to exerting this ability, which would prove to be rather useful, considering the danger that lay ahead.

But it was as she said, getting to their destination took longer than they could've hoped or preferred. Thankfully, they had not been attacked by any specters, so the only real thing worth noting was again, the time it took for them to reach the Tower.

It was situated on a slope not too far away from the lake, with some of the cables connected to it emerging from said lake. Ulrich and Yumi had just exited the forest they were in, and could see the tower from the other end of the lakeside. Circling the Tower were four specters, a bit larger than the one that had attacked them earlier. Three other specters were lurking on the ground near the Tower, guarding their brethren as they influenced the real world.

"So, do we have a plan?" Yumi asked.

"We run up there and destroy them." Ulrich said simply.

"What if something weird happens?" Yumi whispered. "What if those things are stronger than the monster we took on? I mean, just one of them nearly took us out."

"Well, this place is kind of like a video game." Ulrich said confidently. "Maybe we'll just respawn or go back to the real world."

" _Yeah…About that…I've been looking through the guide. Your virtual forms are fairly durable, but if they take too much damage…well, there's no respawn or return procedure. I mean, there IS a rematerialization feature to get you guys home, but if you die here, you uh, die for real…"_ Jeremie informed them nervously.

Ulrich and Yumi's eyes widened and they looked up at the sky, as if they were looking at Jeremie from down below.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ulrich yelled angrily. "You could've warned us about that Jeremie!"

" _The guide didn't mention it until now! I'm sorry!"_ Jeremie protested.

"Which makes it all the more important that we plan this through!" Yumi reprimanded sternly, putting a hand on Ulrich's shoulder, but still glaring up at the sky, also being annoyed that Jeremie had not warned them of the possibility of death before they jumped into the Scanners.

Then again, she and Ulrich HAD volunteered to try to stop these specters in the first place, so perhaps she wasn't in a position to judge.

" _If you guys think that you won't be able to handle the specters, I'll bring you two back in right now, I have the rematerialization procedure up on standby."_ Jeremie said.

Ulrich looked at Yumi, and she returned the look. The two then switched their gazes towards the opposition. Just seven specters. Not too difficult at first glance, but again, as Yumi had said, considering what had attacked them earlier, they had no idea if the others were just as tough, far more dangerous, or were hiding something even worse. Taking the time to examine them revealed that while the specters prowling along the ground looked to be the same size as the first specter the duo had encountered, the four circling around the Tower, clinging to it like leeches, varied from either twice as large to three or maybe four times as large. Yumi was right, they did need a plan.

"So, what should we do?" Ulrich asked in a hushed whisper as he and Yumi stood behind a large rock.

"The first three might not be too bad. If we ambush them, we should be able to take them out." Yumi explained. "We don't want a drawn out fight. We might have a lot more stamina and endurance in this place, but we struggled with one specter before we got our weapons. We need to get them both in one blow."

"How do we do that?" Ulrich asked, gesturing to his sheathed katana, "We've only got one weapon."

Yumi quietly felt around her obi, and pulled out two folded fans. She unfolded them, revealing that they had the same blue binary structure within them as Ulrich's sword. The two looked at the Tessen Fans skeptically.

"How are two fans going to do anything?" he asked.

Yumi didn't reply, instead, she looked at the tools provided to her carefully. A lightbulb went off in her head. Yumi folded the fan in her left hand, and then drew herself back.

"You might want to back away." She said.

"Wait, are you-?" Ulrich began to ask, but before he could finish, Yumi threw the fan into the air. The fan flew around like a disc, its interiors now spiked like a buzz saw. Then, like a boomerang, the fan returned to Yumi's hand, and then folded.

"I think that'll work." Yumi said confidently to a wide-eyed Ulrich.

Ulrich nodded, now knowing that they could both one-shot the small-fry. Of course, there was still the other problem of the larger ghosts.

"How do we deal with the big ones?" he asked.

Yumi looked at them thoughtfully. The larger specters' positions on the tower varied. The largest of them was highest, being halfway up the tower. The other three huddled closer to where the support cables were plugged into the structure. Any ideas Yumi had to actively reach the specters she quickly shot down mentally due to the factor of inexperience she and Ulrich had regarding their powers.

"Do you have anything for us Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

" _I'm still reading through the rest of the guide."_ Jeremie replied. _"There's actually an interesting tidbit here about the ghosts here…"_

"Does it involve destroying them?" Ulrich asked.

" _No, but it does say what'll happen if you destroy the ones surrounding a Tower."_ Jeremie replied.

"Let me guess, it stops them somehow?" Ulrich asked, rolling his eyes at what seemed to be an obvious fact.

" _Pretty much."_ Jeremie explained. _"By destroying the specters haunting a Tower, whatever influence they hold over the network is cut off. So, if you guys destroy the specters on the Tower, then it'll mean that they can't gain access to our world."_

"The only problem is, how?" Ulrich grumbled. "We've got some big ones up on that Tower right now."

"I've got one idea, but it is risky." Yumi said.

"I'm all ears." Ulrich muttered as Yumi began to explain her plan.

After hearing what Yumi had in mind, Ulrich rubbed his hands. "Sounds up my alley." He smirked.

Yumi stayed silent, but smirked at Ulrich's reply.

"Let's do this then." She said, and then, both samurai and geisha snuck to the edge of the woods, circling over to the enormous tower.

* * *

The teddy bear looked at the group of children before him, and paid close attention to Milly's face. Seeing that his influence over her was gone, the Teddy Bear shook his head with disappointment.

" **Truly a shame that you have decided to reject the Will of the World, Milly."** He said, voice deepening significantly.

"T-teddy." Milly stuttered, before gritting her teeth and standing up straight. "I want you to stop!"

Teddy gave a grim chuckle. " **That I cannot do Milly. It is the Will of the World that these humans must perish."** He replied. **"Out of gratitude for having kept me as your companion for so long, I will spare you and Tamiya, and make you both see the error of your ways."**

"A-and us?" Charlie whimpered.

" **You will die."** Teddy answered flatly.

Sebastian looked at Teddy nervously, and swallowed a load of bile building up in his mouth. Reasoning with the insane abomination was clearly impossible, but Sebastian was desperate to try anything that could delay the inevitable, or at least make sure that help could arrive. As such, he decided to play the card that most heroes in television try when the villain has cornered them. Get the villain to explain their motivations.

"Uh, so uh, why do we have to die? What is the will of the world?" Sebastian asked, trying to word the questions as best as he could in the current situation.

" **I have already answered that you must die in accordance with the Will of the World. But if you wish to perish as an enlightened individual,"** Teddy replied, **"Then I shall grant you that wish."**

"I'd rather not perish altogether." Amare muttered, only for Hugo to elbow him in annoyance.

" **The Will of the World, it is a force, a driving command that desires the end of the world as you know it."** Teddy explained. **"It is a sublime voice that exists in us all, guiding us to our end goal."**

"…And Solovieff bought that?" Sebastian asked incredulously, looking at Milly.

"I uh, don't remember all of it…" Milly stuttered sheepishly.

"She was hypnotized Sebastian; how could she remember any of it?!" Tamiya snapped at Sebastian.

"Well I'm sorry, I wasn't there to listen to an insane teddy bear monster ramble about the end times of Karakorum!" Sebastian snapped back.

" **What I say is not insanity."** Teddy growled in annoyance. **"I speak the truth. A truth that you lot clearly fail to comprehend."**

"Uh, yeah, because being killed by a crazy monster with a voice in their head is so hard to grasp!" Amare said, rolling his eyes in spite of the situation.

Hugo would've tried to rein Amare in again, but he had caught onto Sebastian's plan. As long as Teddy was debating philosophy…or at least, some disturbing faux philosophy, he wasn't trying to kill them. He doubted that Teddy would let them go, but as long as he was talking, he was standing still in one place, so if anyone had run into the wire barrier that Teddy had created, then they could warn someone about the situation, and hopefully get them away from Teddy.

So Hugo decided to play along.

"Uh, sorry for my friend here." Hugo said, gesturing to an indignant Amare, "but uh, what exactly is the voice that guides you? And why does it want us all dead?"

Sebastian quickly followed up. "Yeah, why does the 'will of the world' want to destroy us?"

Amare and Tamiya were both about to ask Sebastian and Hugo why the hell they were egging on Teddy, Amare especially since Hugo had just tried to get him to shut up, but both soon realized that the two boys were stalling for time. So, the two stayed silent as Teddy took their questions into account. Tamiya put her hands over Milly's ears however, wanting the red-hair to stay by her side in case Teddy tried to hypnotize her again.

" **The voice that guides us. That is the Will of the World, as I have said before,"** Teddy explained, **"It desires the apocalypse. That is all."**

Amare looked at Teddy with disbelief.

"Really? That's it? You're just here to…kill all of us because the voice in your head wants you to? Why does it want that?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation alive.

To the collective horror of the group, Teddy merely shrugged.

" **I do not know. Perhaps it is what you humans would call instinct."** Teddy replied. **"You humans have what is known as a sixth sense yes? Intuition? This works the same way. It is by simple instinct that the Will of the World desires your demise. Your curiosity is a redeeming trait, but too little, too late."**

At that moment, Teddy broke into a combat stance, and resumed his charge at the group.

"Oh come on!" Sebastian cried, and the children started running once again, their hopes for salvation ebbing…

* * *

"YAHH!" Ulrich cried out, rushing from his hiding spot.

"You could try to be a little quieter!" Yumi yelled, running after him.

Ulrich was already using his super-speed, rushing at the specters. The three creatures on the ground turned around, disturbed by the sudden noise, and saw the young samurai boy running towards them. One of the specters immediately shot at Ulrich, only for him to quickly draw his katana. As the specter started to twist about like a tornado, Ulrich stabbed at it with his sword. The blow connected, and the dark creature found itself being cut in half as Ulrich ducked to avoid contact with it.

Ulrich skidded to a halt, watching as the specter disintegrated, but quickly turned around, seeing the next two specters fly towards him. Ulrich swung his katana, and the two creatures backed away, hovering above Ulrich cautiously, worried about the sword that the strange individual possessed that could destroy them.

Before they could attack Ulrich again however, two blue discs shot from behind the boy, and started cutting the specters apart. Before they could react, the monsters had been completely shredded by Yumi's Tessen Fans, which returned to their owner, who folded them again.

Ulrich couldn't help but grin audaciously. "You said that your plan was to attract the big guys, I figured running in screaming might help."

Yumi folded her arms in mild annoyance, but was satisfied that she and Ulrich had gotten rid of several specters regardless. Yumi then looked up to check on the bigger specters. When she did, her eyes widened.

"Looks like it did help! Jump!" she cried out.

Ulrich looked up too, and he quickly obeyed Yumi as one of the larger specters seemed to drop in front of them, hovering over the ground menacingly. It swung around as if it was trying to realize what the two were, and it quickly shot back up into the air, flying in a quick circle.

"What's it doing?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremie looked at the monitor, and saw the second specter detach from the tower.

" _It looks like it's bringing in a friend."_ His transmitted voice warned.

"One-on-One fights then?" Ulrich asked. "Bring it on."

"Someone looks like they're enjoying themselves." Yumi noted with a nervous smirk as the two large specters dived towards her and Ulrich.

Ulrich gave his own smirk, but there was no time to respond as the specters charged towards him and Yumi once again.

* * *

"Ow!" Charlie cried, tripping over a root.

"Shit!" Hugo swore, grabbing his bawling brother and carrying him away.

The situation was getting desperate. The kids were getting exhausted from all of the running they were doing to avoid Teddy, and they knew that they couldn't keep it up much longer. They were all in a group now, too frightened to try to split up and potentially be killed all alone. They felt safe in numbers…even though that would do nothing against Teddy's blade-like claws.

"If this is the end guys, I have a – "Amare began, but Tamiya cut him off.

"It's not going to be the end! It won't!" Tamiya yelled desperately.

But just as she finished her declaration, Teddy appeared before the group, and they all skidded to a halt, only to fall atop one another in the confusion.

"You were saying?" Sebastian grumbled as he tried to come to terms with dying.

" **This is the end children."** Teddy growled as he rubbed his claws against one another for a quick sharpening.

The kids managed to untangle themselves out of the pile and scoot backwards away from Teddy, but it was obvious now that there was nowhere left to run. They were exhausted and frightened, and had no strength left to move after moving a few feet.

Milly looked at her teddy bear, horrified at what it had turned into.

"Teddy…" she murmured.

Teddy loomed over Sebastian, raising his claws into the air.

" **As you were willing to learn about the nature of the Will of the World child, I will grant you a few last words. Speak now, for they will be the final words that come from your mouth."** He commanded.

Sebastian gulped, but before he could speak….

"STOP!" Milly cried out.

Teddy's right eye rotated to look at Milly while the left one continued to focus on Sebastian. **"As I told you before, Milly, I do not intend to stop the fulfillment of my purpose."** Teddy said.

"How is hurting people your purpose?!" Milly cried out. "You're a teddy bear! You're supposed to comfort people, not hurt them!"

" **I comforted you Milly, I helped you while you recovered from that near-death experience."** Teddy replied.

"You didn't comfort her, you brainwashed her!" Tamiya replied indignantly, causing Teddy to glare at the dark-skinned girl.

" **What you call brainwashing, I call comforting."** Teddy explained. **"As I told the one you call Sebastian."** Sebastian gulped as he was name-dropped. **"I came to life after I was separated from you Milly. A great shock went through me, and I was suddenly gifted with sentience and the ability to move. I could see, hear, and touch."**

"The-the cables brought you to life then?" Milly questioned, realizing what Teddy meant by 'a great shock'.

"…Okay, I'm no Jeremie, but I'm pretty sure that's scientifically impossible." Amare noted.

" **And yet, it did happen. I'll admit, it was strange to know so many things at birth. I knew that my normal body could not withstand the rain, and yet it did."** Teddy replied. **"I also knew that I had to get back to you Milly. You were my owner, and I was your comforter. I had to get back to you, and so I did, I braved the storm, falling and tripping along the way. There were times where I felt my strength fluctuate, where I would either collapse or wander in the wrong direction. Yet I never gave up, and I managed to return to you."**

"You did all of that for me?" Milly asked in awe.

"He's trying to brainwash you again!" Tamiya cried out.

Teddy shook his head.

" **Education about the Will of the World is far different than explaining my backstory. I will not teach it to you two anyways until the present vermin are extinguished."** He replied.

"A teddy bear robot monster knows what a backstory is? This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Sebastian deadpanned despite the situation.

" **SILENCE!"** Teddy roared in Sebastian's face, giving the boy a good view of the sharp objects acting as teeth in the bear's mouth, as well as his tongue, which was made of thick barbed wire and circuitry.

"Yes-sir." Sebastian whimpered.

Charlie scooted behind Hugo in fear at Teddy's outburst.

" **In either case. I returned to you Milly. As I dried myself off and returned to your arms, I found myself unable to experience sleep. I heard a multitude of voices within myself."** Teddy continued. **"They were disorganized, crying out for the destruction of the world. At first, they all had separate voices, but then, those voices changed into one, which commanded me to carry out the Will of the World. It was an alluring, reassuring voice, very much like that of a mother soothing her child. It then explained the nature of what had happened to me, before returning to the discordant voices of before. But no longer were they chaotic, now we all had a sort of mutual understanding with one another. We were to carry out the Will of the World, and I was the vessel for which it was to be done."**

"You mean, destroying everyone? Killing everyone?!" Milly cried out in horror at what her teddy bear had told her.

" **Not everyone would die Milly. I beseeched the Will of the World for you to be spared. It agreed to my request, so long as you would help us carry out the Will as well."** Teddy explained.

"And you agreed to turn into…that?" Milly asked, pointing in terror of Teddy's current form.

" **Indeed I did."** Teddy confirmed. **"Throughout the night and day, I felt the components for my new body form within me. It was a painful procedure, but I endured it regardless, for the Will of the World, and for you Milly."**

"But why me? Why would you agree to not hurt me but hurt everyone else besides Tamiya?" Milly cried out.

" **I did not include Tamiya in my request."** Teddy revealed. **"At the time, you were to be the only one spared, and as my brethren gathered the parts to create my new body, I watched the suspicions of your peers grow, and as that suspicion grew, so did my desire to destroy them. It was only when I began to introduce you to the Will of the World that you asked for Tamiya to be spared, which the Will agreed to, on the condition that Tamiya assist us as well."**

"Is that true, Milly?" Tamiya asked in shock. "You didn't want Teddy attacking me?"

"You chose to let us die!?" Hugo asked in equal shock. "Why?"

Milly grabbed the sides of her head, trying to remember what exactly happened. She remembered crying, and seeing Teddy come to life and hug her. She remembered some vague words Teddy had spoken of, including the Will of the World that he seemed to obsess over. She could vaguely recall a motherly soft-speaking voice, but aside from Teddy's glowing eyes, she could not recognize anything else.

"I-I can't remember." Milly groaned.

" **I remember though."** Teddy said. **"You were distressed at how everyone seemed to disparage you, seemed to think that they were better than you due to being older."**

"Charlie's younger than Milly though." Tamiya couldn't help but point out.

" **I remember pointing that out myself, and then a reply of 'I don't care' from Milly."** Teddy replied, that one fact seeming to bewilder him so much that the bear wasn't roaring at anyone like he had with Sebastian.

Hugo's eyes widened in bewilderment, and then narrowed in annoyance as he realized what horrible fate had nearly befallen his younger sibling. But before he could say anything else, Teddy continued talking.

" **Milly was angry at you all, but, she couldn't bring herself to want her best friend dead. She merely wanted Tamiya to understand her, and so asked the Will of the World if she could merely convert Tamiya to our cause, which the Will agreed to."**

It was then that Milly remembered some of what had happened. Words that had been whispered into her ear by that soft voice. She remembered crying out for Tamiya, begging for her friend to be spared, followed by affirmation, before everything went dark again.

Milly felt her forehead. "I, I, I was, angry at everyone…but, I didn't want to hurt Tamiya, I wanted her to be with me…" she murmured.

"You threw us under the bus, Solovieff!?" Sebastian roared, causing Milly to wince. "Just because we found a haunted teddy bear creepy? We didn't want to do anything horrible to you! We're not bullies! We're your friends! We just found the damn teddy bear security blanket thing weird and wanted you to stop doing it!"

" **You should've gone about it another way around then. Then instead of me purifying you from the world, you would've spread our teachings as we evolved and became ever more powerful.** " Teddy snorted.

Sebastian blinked. "Okay, first of all, if we survive this by some miracle, we're going to be having a long chat Solovieff." He said, pointing at Milly in minor annoyance. "Secondly, I think I'd rather be killed instead of being the word of mouth for some creepy cult. The town's got enough of THOSE in its seedy underbelly as it is."

At this, Teddy's right eye just blinked.

" **So you would rather die than spread the truth of the world? Such a shame."** Teddy grumbled.

"What you call a shame, I call retaining my dignity!" Sebastian snapped.

"B-but you still haven't explained why you wanted to spare me in the first place!" Milly cried out. "Why didn't you try to hurt me like you're trying to hurt everyone else?!"

Teddy was silent for a few moments. The air was deathly still as everyone stared at the abomination.

" **It is because as you said before Milly."** Teddy said at last. **"You are my owner. Your father bought me for you when you were three. Ever since then, whenever you felt sad, hurt, or lonely, you would always try to cuddle up and talk to me. When you learned that you were to be sent off to boarding school, you made sure to take me with you. I have always been there for you Milly, and now that I have obtained sentience, and have knowledge of everything that has happened to us, I wish for nothing but the best for you as I fulfill my other purpose: To carry out the Will of the World."**

"…Teddy…" Milly murmured, her voice trailing away.

"Heartwarming." Sebastian grumbled. "Except for the part that involves killing us!"

" **Enough. I do not wish to waste any more time."** Teddy sighed, sounding exhausted. **"The time has come."**

More threads of steel wire emerged from Teddy's back, before zipping around all of the children except for Milly, wrapping them up tightly and pinning them to the ground as the needles weaving the threads dug themselves into the dirt and trees. The message was clear. There was to be no more escape.

Teddy raised his right claw into the air, preparing to gore out Sebastian's organs. The boy screamed, and then quickly closed his eyes when…

"PLEASE STOP!" Milly sobbed, grabbing onto Teddy as tightly as she could.

Teddy seemed confused for a few moments before his eyes rolled down to look at Milly.

" **I am sorry Milly, but it has to be this way."** Teddy said quietly, gently comforting his owner.

"NO! You don't have to kill them! You don't have to kill my friends!" Milly begged. "Th-they tried to help me out when I was scared! They DO care about me! They're not evil bullies! PLEASE! DON'T HURT THEM!"

Milly grabbed Teddy even tighter, sobbing into his fur.

Teddy gave a sigh. It almost seemed remorseful. Almost.

" **Even so, no matter what happens Milly, humanity must be destroyed. The Will of the World does not-"**

"Who cares about the Will of the World wants?!" Milly cried, "what do YOU want Teddy?"

The air was silent once again.

"… **I want you to be happy Milly. That is what I want. But in order for you to achieve the greatest happiness, the greatest pleasure, I must do this. That is what I have determined. The Will of the World informed me of what it will bring about, and what it will bring about will give you the happiness I want for you."** Teddy replied softly.

There was to be no more arguing. Milly's continuing pleas faded to background noise as Teddy raised his claw, and swung down towards Sebastian's throat…

* * *

"GAH!" Ulrich cried, barely dodging an attack from the specter.

To say that the battle was going badly would be incorrect. But to say that it was going well and that Ulrich and Yumi had a large advantage would also be incorrect. Both of them still had not managed to destroy the two large specters that were attacking them, and to make matters worse…

" _Be careful! You don't have many uses left in your weapons! I don't know if there'll be enough time for them to recharge if you run out of energy now!"_ Jeremie warned urgently.

"How many uses do we have?" Yumi asked, closing up one of her fans.

" _Ulrich's got about three minutes left in his sword, and you've got about ten throws left per fan."_ Jeremie confirmed.

"How long would a recharge take?" Yumi asked, keeping an eye on the specter she was fighting, which was high above her and flying around erratically in an attempt to dodge the geisha's fans.

" _It would take about three minutes."_ Jeremie confirmed.

"Not an option." Yumi said grimly. "We'd get torn apart by then."

Re-sheathing his katana, still running from his specter, Ulrich put up a question.

"Why not just bring us back and then send us back in when we get back?"

" _Not possible according to the guide. There's a three-hour cool-down period before you can be sent back in. Not to mention that the scanners are programmed to abort a virtualization attempt if enough time hasn't passed."_ Jeremie answered.

"Great." Ulrich muttered, speeding up a tad.

The two specters that the samurai-geisha duo were fighting had learned from their fallen brethren, taking care to avoid the weapons of Ulrich and Yumi. Yumi's specter, as stated before, was flying high in the air in an erratic pattern, trying to confuse Yumi so that it could dodge her tessen fans when the time came to attack her. The specter Ulrich was fighting on the other hand, was using a sort-of 'Red Light, Green-Light strategy', where one minute it would quickly dash towards his back, but then keep far away from him whenever Ulrich tried to go on the offensive.

As such, neither side had landed a blow on the other, resulting in a stalemate…but it was one that would eventually fall in the favor of the specters. If Yumi and Ulrich lost their weapons, then they would have no way of fighting the monsters, who would then go back to the tower they had infected and continue whatever attack they were waging on the real world.

Even so, if the specters made one mistake, then there was a good chance that the two virtual warriors would be able to turn the situation around.

As Ulrich turned around to try to swing his katana, the specter flew upwards, with Ulrich only managing to barely graze the black creature as he attempted a draw slash. While the monster briefly vibrated with what Ulrich assumed was pain, it did not stop in its movements and flew up beyond the range of Ulrich's sabre.

Ulrich's mind was racing with thoughts on how to finally destroy the monster as he now stood with his sword drawn.

Sword drawn…

A lightbulb clicked in Ulrich's head. It was a crazy idea, but hey, whatever works.

Ulrich re-sheathed his sword and resumed his speed-run. Once he did so, the specter he was battling resumed chasing him. Ulrich kept running, but instead, started to gradually slow down, allowing the specter to get closer to him, as it did not slow down to match Ulrich's pace. The boy kept his hand on his sword, ready to draw it once the specter got close enough…and this time, it wouldn't escape.

The specter jumped upwards and shot down towards Ulrich, its maw starting to open…

Right on top of the young samurai's blade.

Ulrich moved just far enough to the edge of the monster's jaw, and drew his sword as the specter dove atop him, propelled by its momentum, it found itself unable to stop in time as it was impaled by Ulrich's sabre. Wasting no time, Ulrich shoved forward, forcing the blade out of the specter, who writhed in pain as it took a substantial blow.

Ulrich started hacking at the black monstrosity, with as much speed and power as he could muster, and thus, finally, the specter dissolved in defeat.

"Phew…" Ulrich panted, kneeling to rest.

Then he remembered Yumi and his head shot up to see her battle.

Unaware that its colleague was no more, the specter that the geisha was fighting flew even more wildly as Yumi tried to keep up with it. Then, it shot downwards like a comet, going at a rather fast pace and utilizing a spiraling path so as to avoid Yumi's fans.

Indeed, such a strategy seemed to work for it, as Yumi threw one of her fans in an attempt to strike down the monster. Unfortunately, just as Ulrich's sword did a few seconds earlier, the specter was only briefly grazed by the tessen.

But the specter did not realize that it had only dealt with one fan. The second one was still primed and ready to go, and Yumi launched it just as the specter turned around her back. The first attack had slowed down the specter a bit, just enough for the second fan to land a more substantial blow.

The specter recoiled in pain. But if it thought that was the end of that, it was severely mistaken. Yumi may have been disarmed, but the specter had made the very poor choice of writhing in one place. If it had had either a little time to recover or continued moving, it might've caught the young geisha off guard and kill her.

Because by staying in one place, it had given Yumi enough time to click into her head the idea of trying to guide her fans via her telekinesis.

Focusing, Yumi started to glow with blue light, quickly turning around and focusing on her first fan. Grasping her hand, she turned around and thrust at the specter.

Now on a straight path, the deadly disc shot forward rather than in an arc, and scored a direct hit on the specter, blue binary slicing into black particles, blasting a hole through the specter, which also forced it into the return path of the second fan, which sliced into the injured monster and returned to its owner's hand.

The specter flew down closer to the ground in pain, too slow for it to dodge the return of the first fan, which cut into the monster once again.

The specter could take no more of this, and it slowly dissolved into oblivion

" _Great job!"_ Jeremie transmitted, invigorated by the turning of the tide.

Yumi and Ulrich, panting, looked as the penultimate specter, which was the same size as the last two, dashed towards them in desperation.

"We're not out of the woods yet." Ulrich grunted, running over to where Yumi was.

The two shared a glance as the creature tried to attack them, flying in a zigzag pattern in an attempt to confuse the duo.

But they were starting to get the hang of fighting in the virtual world, and had managed to solo two specters of this size. Ulrich dashed away from Yumi, causing the specter to fly at him. It failed to realize that this was a distraction, and it was soon cut into by Yumi's fans. Twisting about, the monster turned around trying to attack Yumi, but suffered two blows from behind thanks to the return trajectory of the tessen.

The specter moved, groaning as it turned around…

To see Ulrich attacking with a flurry of slashes that finished the creature off.

"Just…one left." Yumi panted.

" _You've got two minutes left, Ulrich! Eight throws per fan, Yumi!"_ Jeremie warned as the last specter detached from the tower.

The two virtual fighters looked at the last monster, which hovered above them menacingly. Now that they could take a closer look at it, Yumi could confirm that this monster was in fact, twice as large as the previous three specters they had fought…which wasn't exactly reassuring, considering her and Ulrich's exhaustion.

The monster slowly opened its mouth as it looked down at the two intruders. Then, it started roaring like an angry polar bear, and flew at Yumi, who, in a panic, threw her tessen fans at the creature. Its large size meant that it was not able to dodge the weapons as easily as its brethren…but it also meant that it could resist a blow from them much easier, and the monster wasted no time in diving at Yumi and managing to throw her a distance away.

"YUMI!" Ulrich cried out in horror as the girl was flung onto the ground, groaning in pain from the blow.

In a fit of rage, Ulrich dashed at the specter, and started hacking away at the monster, who started screaming as Ulrich tried to keep it in place, as Yumi's fans were still active and flying towards the monster. The specter roared again, but managed to move and bite down on Ulrich's sabre, doing so near the hilt area.

This had two results. One, the blade still injured the specter, so it wasn't able to bite down enough to tear off Ulrich's hands, but on the other hand, doing so near the hilt area frightened the boy enough that he dropped his sword, enabling the specter to grab the saber in its mouth, and throw away so that it could no longer do any harm to the monster.

"NO!" Ulrich cried out as the specter slammed into him, forcing him into the ground.

The specter then flew away as Yumi's fans flew towards it on their return trajectory, dodging the weapons as they slammed into the ground in front of the geisha.

" _Oh, no! ULRICH! YUMI! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"_ Jeremie called in a panic, preparing the return procedure.

"Ugh…" Ulrich groaned as he staggered to his feet, before seeing the monster rise up into the air, its wounds starting to heal, as it flew down and chased after him.

Ulrich screamed in panic, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, trying to avoid the monster as Yumi got up as well, shakily picking up her fans and trying to catch up to them.

Ulrich looked behind him as the specter seemed to catch up, and then looked in front of him, seeing that he was nearing the Tower. The Tower he and Yumi were trying to purge free of these monstrosities…It wasn't long until Ulrich actually started to entertain the notion of retreating…he never liked running away from a fight, but beating up thugs was quite different from fighting virtual abominations.

Ulrich ran through a small set of trees, and saw that the specter was getting closer. Yumi, running behind, tried a desperate throwing of her tessen, using her telekinesis, whatever energy she could muster that remained, to guide them into the monster.

Ulrich was almost at the Tower, but realized that he was going too fast to turn around. Thinking quickly, Ulrich used his remaining stamina to plant his feet into the massive white wall and jumped from it. He wasn't able to score a landing though, and rolled into the grass, stopping a few meters away from the Tower.

But if Ulrich was unable to slow down, neither was the specter. It was then that the most miraculous thing occurred…

The specter slammed into the Tower, screaming as it did so, as if the tower was now deflecting it. In the real world, Jeremie fell onto the floor, feeling the ground shake beneath his feet as his chair rolled out away from him.

Back in the virtual world, the specter became unstable, about to scatter to pieces…and it was then that it flew right into Yumi's tessen fans, which destroyed the remaining mass that the specter needed to remain stable.

Letting out a final, pitiable whimper, the black monster faded away just as its brethren had.

The air was tense. Ulrich panted heavily, as did Yumi as her fans returned to her. In the real world, Jeremie remained quiet, his heart beating quickly as he got up, his arms and legs shaking as he nervously retrieved his chair and rolled back up to the computer screen. A window representing the status of the tower that had been infected had been brought up, which was how Jeremie could monitor the tower. Before, the three-dimensional model of the structure had a red tint to it, which according the guide, indicated the presence of specters.

Now, there were two things Jeremie could note. One, the model was now completely green, indicating that the tower was safe. Two, the window itself was starting to lag, until it automatically closed. Jeremie had a bad feeling about that last part, but at least knew that Ulrich and Yumi had done it. They had stopped the specters.

Shakily, he called out to the two.

" _Are you guys okay?"_ he called out to them.

Still panting, Yumi looked around.

"There aren't any more of these things?" she asked.

" _No! You guys did it!"_ Jeremie called out with glee.

Ulrich and Yumi breathed a sigh of relief. They had done it.

" _I'll bring you guys in now."_ Jeremie transmitted, and two pillars of light consumed the virtual fighters, returning them home after their first, and on that note, successful, mission.

* * *

Sebastian closed his eyes, praying that he would die painlessly. He waited a few seconds, then a few more. He slowly opened his eyes, wondering why Teddy hadn't torn his throat out. He could hear Milly continuing to beg Teddy to spare him. At least he knew he was going to die with people mourning him. Seconds passed, seeming to stretch into minutes...but still the Street Kid remaining in the world of the living.

Sebastian looked up, and saw that Teddy had paused, his claws centimeters from the boy's neck.

Nervous sweat poured down Sebastian's forehead. Why hadn't Teddy killed him? Did Milly somehow get through to the monster out of the blue?

Just as Sebastian realized how low the chances of that was, Teddy staggered upright, acting as if he'd been shot.

"T-Teddy?" Milly asked, fearful tears in her eyes as the monster that had once been her stuffed animal stood deathly still.

The seconds ticked away, the forest silent except for the wind and the small chirping of birds.

Then, the screaming began.

" **AGHHHAHHHAGGGH!"** Teddy roared, as if he was pain.

Milly yelped, and jumped clear of Teddy as he first started to spasm, clutching his head with his claws in clear agony, screaming horrifically.

" **AOLKJ;LEIHLASSGGHIIE!"** he screamed incoherently, as a sort-of, glitching-out effect covered his body.

Static covered Teddy's body, his entire form consumed as he first turned monochrome, then color-negative, before turning back into his normal form…albeit with his features shuffled around, his mouth being where his eyes were, his feet replacing his ears, his eyes on the stubs where his arms used to be, as his ears were now where his mouth was, and his hands had swapped with his feet. Teddy's form continued to glitch out as his body parts continued to shuffle around his body until they returned to his normal form, aside from it being completely covered in black pixels until the covering shattered, with Teddy screaming louder than ever.

But just as his body seemed to return to normal, Teddy stopped screaming, creating a great silence once again.

Everyone stayed still, terrified by the scene unfolding in front of them. Then, Tamiya looked down, and saw that the wire threads restraining her were dissolving away like ash. Amare, Hugo, Charlie, and Sebastian looked at the wire threads holding them in place, and saw that their own binds were crumbling away.

"Wh-what's going on?" Amare choked out.

" **My…Connection…"** Teddy choked out, **"Has been severed…"**

"Severed?" Milly asked nervously, looking at Teddy, who collapsed onto the ground.

In response, Sebastian quickly crawled away in fear, not wanting to stay closer to Teddy than was safely recommended any longer.

" **I…fail to recognize who did it…"** Teddy mumbled. **"My brethren, their voices have been silenced, cut off…our mission here has failed."**

The teddy bear monster looked at his owner with what looked like regret in his eyes, their glow changing from a harsh red to a gentler green.

" **It seems that I have failed you, Milly."** He said with remorse.

"T-Teddy…" Milly gulped, swallowing nervously as she looked around at her companions, who were still huddling the ground in shock.

"I-It's not like you failed…" she ventured.

"HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Sebastian yelled, gaining strength through a new wave of incredulous shock.

"N-not like that!" she replied hastily as Sebastian and Hugo shot her dirty looks.

Milly looked at Teddy, and then at Tamiya before facing her teddy bear once again.

"I'm…sorry that this happened Teddy." Milly apologized, pity evident in her voice. "I-I don't know much of what's happening right now…but…you didn't fail in trying to make me happy."

"You still wanted him to kill us?!" Hugo yelled in shock.

"NO!" Milly yelled, raising her voice. "I don't want anyone to die! Let alone get hurt!"

"Y-yeah…" Charlie stammered, trying to point this out to his brother, who clearly had a hard glare in his eyes.

"Everyone here said that I can't rely on a security blanket forever!" Milly said. "And they're right! I can't! A-at some point…I should learn to let go…And that's today. You didn't fail to make me happy Teddy…because…you helped me realize this…that I have to let go and stand on my own two feet."

Teddy looked at his owner as she straightened herself up, sharing a look towards him.

"I'll find happiness…thanks to my friends…and I'll succeed in whatever I plan on doing, regardless of what life has to throw at me!" Milly declared.

"…You know, if it weren't for the fact that this was being said to a robotic teddy bear demon, that would've been pretty profound." Amare commented.

Sebastian and Hugo glared at Amare, before returning their gaze to Milly and remembering all of the weird stuff that had begun the day. Both silently came to the same conclusion.

As for Teddy, the behemoth remained on his knees, at first silent as his body started to crumble and dissolve. Then, he let out a slow, amused chuckle.

" **Well…ha, ha."** He mumbled. **"I suppose every child must grow up someday. It is a painful truth, yet one that has to happen nevertheless."**

Milly watched as Teddy's body continued to break down, the creature collapsing onto the ground completely.

" **If that is what you want Milly…then I will not stop you. Not that I need to anyways…"** Teddy said quietly.

"Wait, what was that last part?" Tamiya asked.

But she did not receive a reply from Teddy, whose eyes stopped glowing as the creature became inactive for good, and where a horrific monster once stood, there was nothing whatsoever.

But as the children took in this fact, darkness overcame their eyes. Milly collapsed onto the ground, while everyone else lay down on their backs, letting exhaustion consume them.

* * *

Ulrich and Yumi collapsed onto their knees, gripping the sides of the scanners as they took in the fact that they had returned to their world…now safe from harm from the specters…for now at least.

"Are you two okay?" Jeremie asked.

Ulrich felt his body over. He was expecting broken ribs from the attack that the final monster had dealt to him…but nothing was broken. He looked at Yumi, and saw a similar expression on her face. Aside from exhaustion and the possibility of sore muscles, he and Yumi could in fact, be said to be okay.

"Yeah." Yumi replied, answering for the two of them. "I'm honestly surprised…I would've thought that we'd be more exhausted than this…or, you know…"

She and Ulrich staggered down the stairs in silence, eventually coming to Jeremie, who was continuing to review the data present on the computer screens.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Jeremie turned around, wiped his forehead of the sweat dripped down it, and took a deep breath in relief.

"Well…we survived that." He finally said.

"…I still can't believe this is real though." Yumi replied, feeling herself over. "I mean, we just fought against these, specters, and…well…" Her voice trailed off once again.

"Yeah…" Ulrich muttered quietly.

Jeremie turned around and looked back at the screens.

"I'm going to stay here for a little while longer. I want to make sure that we know as much information as possible about this virtual world...We just took a really huge risk, and I'd rather that if we have to come back here, we know what we're getting into." He said. "You guys…you'll probably want to head back and rest."

"Gotcha." Yumi said gratefully as she and Ulrich hightailed it out of the factory.

They were silent as they walked across the bridge and through the abandoned district, slowly making their way back to Kadic, thinking about the ramifications of what they had just done. It was a massive adrenaline rush, going to that virtual world. Both Ulrich and Yumi could still feel their hands and legs shaking, trying to get used to just…walking normally. Ulrich was tempted to try confirm if he really could dash along at high speeds in the real world and not just in the virtual one…but the need to rest after an excursion and fight like that nixed that idea.

As the two walked along the sidewalks, nearing Kadic, Yumi thought about calling Sebastian and talking to the others about what they had found. After all, it wasn't every day that you stumble upon some strange remnants of a secret project of some kind, and after her experience in Xanadu, she was now sure that those specters had something to do with the whole, 'Living Teddy Bear' phenomenon.

On the other hand, though, there was the risk of what would happen if a secret like this got out. Jeremie and Ulrich claimed that the police did not believe them, and Yumi herself hadn't believed them either until she saw the specter's actions for herself…telling the others that they'd found something like a haunted factory was just _asking_ for trouble.

But she did say to Sebastian that they'd found something close to a lead, and so, she decided to call and say that it was nothing…

But she only got Sebastian's voice message instead.

" _This is Sebastian, leave a message."_ The recording said.

Yumi tried again, but once again, received only a voice message.

"Something wrong?" Ulrich asked.

"Sebastian's not picking up." She said. "You don't think that…"

The instant that thought was planted in their heads, Yumi and Ulrich picked up the pace and quickly reached Kadic. Turning behind an entrance wall, sure that no one besides Yumi could see him, Ulrich tried to use his super-speed, and found, much to a brief relief, that it was still working in the real world. Ulrich slalomed through the trees, trying to see if he could find the others in the woods.

Ulrich briefly looked down, and balked at seeing a strange imprint on the ground…shaped almost like some kind of…bear claw.

"Oh no…" he groaned, dreading what he might have stumbled upon...and what he might find next.

Ulrich picked up the pace, until he reached a clearing…and spotted them. Amare, Charlie, Hugo, Milly, Sebastian, and Tamiya, lying down on the ground, which was covered in more of those same imprints. A closer inspection of them didn't reveal any injuries, but even so, Ulrich grabbed the unconscious Amare's shoulders and started shaking him vigorously.

"Amare, wake up!" Ulrich cried out.

"Ugh…" the dark-skinned boy groaned, pushing Ulrich away as he flopped onto the ground, clutching his head.

Startled by the noise, the remaining children slowly rose up as well, groaning.

"Are you guys alright?" Ulrich asked.

"Stern? What are you doing here?" a groggy Sebastian asked.

"I could say the same thing, what happened here?" Ulrich replied.

Sebastian looked around, and then he saw one of the imprints Teddy left behind on the ground. Soon, the memories came rushing back.

"…You wouldn't believe me if I said that Solovieff's teddy bear became some kind of killer cyborg and tried to kill us, right?" he asked.

…So the specters had turned Milly's teddy bear into a killer robot of some kind. But Ulrich decided to feign confusion instead.

"Um…I don't see any killer teddy bear cyborg." He said. "Also, that's stupid."

"He…he vanished!" Milly spoke up. "He screamed that his connection was severed…and then he dissolved into the air."

Well, that confirmed that he and Yumi had been successful at least. So if they destroyed all of the specters, then whatever monster they created would be destroyed along with them.

"Uh, huh…" Ulrich nodded in a manner to show that he didn't believe them.

Yumi at this point, managed to catch up to Ulrich, and saw the scene before her.

"What happened here?" she asked, concerned.

Milly and Tamiya then ran up to her, and immediately started explaining what had happened, though their respective narrations tripped over each other, forcing Yumi to calm the two down as they told her of the nightmare that they and their friends had just gone through and yet somehow miraculously survived.

"That…that's quite the story." Yumi said when they had finished, disturbed at the horrible monstrosity the specters had created from a simple teddy bear.

"So…did you two and Belpois find anything?" Sebastian grumbled, standing up and patting himself down, desperate to keep himself calm after such a traumatic experience.

"We didn't find anything whatsoever." Ulrich said flatly. "Jeremie got distracted by this new kind of computer and stuck around town trying to see if he could get it."

"I guess that was a fool's errand then." Sebastian grumbled.

"So…what do we do now?" Amare asked.

"We take this story to our graves, let us never speak of this again." Hugo said flatly, making sure Charlie was unhurt. "So this had better not be in the Kadic News."

"Yeah…I think we're going to put this behind us." Tamiya sighed. "This isn't the kind of story we're going to publish."

Hugo kept a small glare on Milly as he and his brother left the clearing. But before he did:

"You'd better not get any more demonic robot toys Milly." He growled threateningly.

"Y-Yes sir!" Milly gulped.

Hugo grunted while Charlie looked back at the scene. But before he and his brother could complete their exit, there was a sound of footsteps as Jean-Pierre Delmas and Michael Rouiler came into the scene.

"So you've finally found her." Michael Rouiler grumbled. "We've a lot to talk about young lady." He said, gesturing to Milly.

"Oh right…the…garden shed." Milly said nervously.

But in comparison to Teddy's insanity, simple administrative punishment was nothing.

"We'll discuss punishment in my office, come along now." Delmas said sternly. "There's nothing left to see here everyone, move along."

As everyone moved out of Delmas' sight, Milly timidly followed behind him and the gardener. If she had to deal with what life had to throw at her, dealing with detention or restricted access would probably be a good start. She and Tamiya shared one final look as she left the scene.

Hugo chuckled quietly to himself as he also left the clearing. "I guess this is a good way to start with payback..."

Ulrich and Yumi quietly slipped away as the others separated, deciding to return to Ulrich's little fighting area in the overpass. There, they sparred silently, ironing out the kinks they felt from their first battle in Xanadu. If they were going to be fighting on a daily basis, then they had to be sure that they could handle the arduous trials ahead. They practiced together until it was time for dinner. When the time had come, they came to the lunchroom without incident. Jeremie wasn't there, oddly enough, while the others were. They too were being quiet, not wanting anyone else to hear about their little, encounter. Everyone ate silently, and when dinner ended, Ulrich and Yumi were out the door before the others. Both were thinking about retrieving Jeremie from the factory, when they saw the bespectacled lad walking towards the dorms, his laptop in hand.

Ulrich and Yumi ran towards him.

"Where were you?" Yumi asked, "You've missed supper."

"Supper can wait." Jeremie replied urgently. "I've made some discoveries regarding Xanadu...Come to my room."

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other, and followed Jeremie to his dorm room. When they got there, the boy set down his laptop on his desk and sighed as he sat down. Ulrich remained standing, while Yumi sat on Jeremie's bed.

"What did you find out?" Yumi asked.

"I've done further research on Xanadu's systems." Jeremie explained, "I'll admit…I'm going to be having to do a lot of reviewing on Quantum Physics if I want to fully understand the functions of the supercomputer."

"Supercomputer?" Ulrich asked in confusion.

"That's what the machine is. A supercomputer," Jeremie answered, "a high-performance machine many times faster than a normal computer. Anything less, and a virtual world like Xanadu wouldn't even exist."

"Okay, okay, we get that." Yumi sighed, "But did you find out anything more about this thing?"

She then went on to explain what had happened to the other kids during their discovery of Xanadu to Jeremie, who put his hand up to his chin in thought.

"Well…that actually does help concerning where we go from here."

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well…while I should be able to fully understand how the supercomputer itself works in about a week at most, it's…" Jeremie started.

"Just get to the point. What are we up against? How are we going to deal with all of this?" Ulrich grumbled, impatient.

"Alright, alright, sheesh." Jeremie huffed. "Basically, to start off with…I found out how long the supercomputer was active before we found it."

"How long?" Yumi asked.

"Well, when a computer isn't in use after a while, it shuts off the screen to converse power…I tried to check the activity of the specters in Xanadu…they were active non-stop for two weeks." Jeremie answered.

"Two weeks?!" Yumi asked in shock. The specters had been active that long? "How? Why?!"

"I learned from the files that the Professor had uploaded that the longer the specters continue to infect a tower, the stronger their attacks become." Jeremie confirmed.

"But WHY were they active?" Yumi gasped. "Who turned the supercomputer back on!?"

Jeremie rubbed his head sheepishly. "I...honestly don't know. My best guess is some random wannabe-adventurer came to the Factory before we did and activated some kind of protocol before...uh..."

"Don't...don't finish that, please..." Yumi groaned, cupping her face into her hands.

"What else is there?" Ulrich asked with growing dread.

"Well, you know how earlier, the last specter crashed into the Tower?" Jeremie asked in turn.

"Yeah…" Ulrich replied.

"That's not exactly something we want happening. It's just like the Professor said, the virtual world is connected to the real world, and the towers act as the link between the two." Jeremie explained. "It's how the Specters influence our world."

"So, if they fly around the tower, they can cause all of the weird stuff that's been happening around town…but if they crash they just cause earthquakes, that's what you're getting at?" Yumi asked.

"Yes." Jeremie confirmed, picking up one of the CD-ROMs and inserting it into his laptop. "I've spent most of the afternoon trying to see if there's a source within Xanadu for the specters, I was hoping that I could code a kind of anti-virus and get rid of them."

"Have you?" Ulrich asked.

"No." Jeremie muttered. "If there's a source for the Specters, either I can't access it, or I can't identify it in all of the virtual world's coding…and if I mess up and make a glitch, well…"

Ulrich and Yumi remained silent at the implications if something like _that_ happened.

Jeremie ejected the CD-ROM from his laptop and inserting into his main computer.

"For now, all I've been able to do is use the programs in Xanadu to make a firewall for my computers, which should at least block them off from being used as a way for the specters to enter the real world." He explained.

Yumi opened her mouth to ask a question, but Jeremie answered it before she could even get a word in.

"And before you guys ask, no, I haven't figured out a way to distribute it all over the network. Yet." He said ruefully.

"So we're going to have to deal with this the hard way?" Ulrich asked.

Typing in the code for the firewall into his computer, Jeremie nodded grimly.

Silence filled the room once again. All three children had quite a lot on their minds. In the space of a day, they had uncovered a dark secret within their town, a strange mystery that came right out of, as Yumi had said, Science Fiction. It was a mystery that they would have to be careful in unraveling, one where, if they made the slightest error, would result in disaster striking down the entire world.

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other, worry evident in their faces…but they steeled their resolve. If it was coming down on their shoulders to save the world…so be it. The two looked at Jeremie, who continued to focus on his computer.

"Alright." Yumi said. "Let's do this."

"There's no turning back." Jeremie warned.

"We knew what we were getting into." Ulrich replied. "We jumped in anyways."

Jeremie turned around to look at Ulrich and Yumi, eyes obscured by the light in his room and computer. "Okay then."

A pact was thus made that night…a pact that would start an adventure…a pact that swore an oath to protect the world.

_A pact that would one day come with grave consequences…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we are done with the prequel! Next time, our focus returns to the present-day!


	4. Adjusting to the Status Quo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odd is officially induced into the Xanadu Warriors...but when moving to a new school, it is the other children that may prove a greater challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now that the horrible, HORRIBLE semester is over, it is time to return to GK! Here is the first part of what is officially File 4!

_ Garage Kids _

File 4.1 – Adjusting to the Status Quo

“And that’s how it all happened.” Jeremie finished with the story.

“Well…sure am glad I wasn’t there to experience it…” Odd shivered as the details of the demonic teddy bear robot sank in.

A moment of silence passed between the two, Jeremie giving his new acquaintance time to digest the backstory he had been given. Glancing at his watch, then the newbie, who was looking down at the ground, Jeremie counted the seconds, before finally speaking up again.

“This is why we need help. For the past month, we’ve been dealing with virus action from Xanadu, keeping it secret from everyone else…But we’re still dealing with a highly advanced computer system, and we don’t know why the ‘Professor’ created it, nor do we know how it became infected with a computer virus.”

“And we can’t go to the cops because the whole thing is so hard to believe.” Odd groaned, burying his face in his hands. “But wouldn’t someone figure out something’s gone wrong by now?”

Jeremie shrugged. “For now, we’ve managed to minimize damage caused by Xanadu to minor accidents. An attack like the one I told you about is incredibly complex, and was only possible because the Specters had time to evolve and develop.” He then paused, waiting for Odd to look back up at him, before continuing. “Give them enough time to settle into a tower that they activate however, and they could do much more and much worse than just turn stuffed animals into Terminators.”

Odd’s eyes widened at the implications of whatever other twisted creations Xanadu could make and he rubbed his temples. “How often does this happen?” 

At first, Jeremie’s answer relieved the boy with the spiked hair. “Twice a week at most.” 

That didn’t seem too bad. Unfortunately, Jeremie wasn’t done expositing.

“But as you just saw, today’s attack was rough, at least, on the virtual side of things. That was the largest number of specters that we’ve dealt with by a huge margin, and I have a bad feeling that things are going to get worse.”

A sinking feeling emerged in Odd’s gut. “Why am I not surprised?” he groaned.

“If you want to call it quits, I won’t stop you.” Jeremie shrugged. “I’m telling you this because you’re bunking with Ulrich, so no matter how things went down, telling you about this would’ve happened one way or another, whether you stumbled on it by accident or came to us deliberately.”

Odd rubbed his right hand through his hair, trying to gather his wits, thinking of something,  _ anything _ , to say. “Why didn’t you tell the others about what you found?” he finally questioned. “I mean… hell, from what you’ve told me, them just accepting that an evil teddy bear monster came out of nowhere sounds, well…incredibly unrealistic…and that’s coming from me of all people!”

Jeremie let out a sigh as he rubbed his glasses on his shirt before replying.

“I can tell you for a fact that none of them have let that incident slide. They’ve all agreed to take a page out of Jim’s book and not talk about it…so, they’ve been dealing with the aftermath in their own ways.”

“Like what?” Odd inquired, bewilderment still evident in his tone.

“Milly’s become less of what you’d call a wallflower, but that means that both her and Tamiya have started snooping around a bit more than what we consider to be comfortable.” Jeremie replied, his voice taking on quite the exasperated tone concerning the amateur journalists. “They’ve kept themselves going on the gossip at Kadic for now, and since the inter-school competition between Kadic and Asimov is in two weeks, they’re focusing on building up hype for the event…but every now and then, they get a bit too close to the truth, and it’s taken Yumi a lot of effort to make things seem normal and deflect their suspicions.”

Odd blinked at Jeremie’s reasoning. “Wait, why’s that? You’ve known them longer than me, so why not just let them in on it?”

“Well…Milly and Tamiya aren’t cut out for combat for one thing, so we can’t let them near a place as dangerous as Xanadu...because honestly, you never really know what you’re going to find over there.” Jeremie answered, noticing that the statement of Xanadu’s still unknown dangers had caused Odd to twitch. “Not to mention that they’re again, journalists, and they’d make it nearly impossible to hide a secret like the factory. A singular incident like ‘Teddy’ they might be able to keep under wraps…but everything else here?” 

The computer genius then gestured to the cluttered and dark appearance of the factory’s interiors, letting Odd’s gaze follow his arms as he beheld the mess of wires and machines that kept the complex running. “They wouldn’t keep their mouths shut for a moment.”

Odd thought it over. He himself wasn’t what you’d call a fighter at first glance, but dealing with his sisters and neighbors had given him plenty of experience with violence, so he was no stranger to basic craziness in life. Milly and Tamiya, well…Odd decided to wait and see what they were like in person before drawing his own personal conclusions about the two.

“What about the other four guys?” he asked, “Amare, Charlie, Hugo, and that Sebastian guy?”

“First off, Hugo’s really protective of his younger brother. Hell, he still occasionally gives Milly the stink-eye for wanting to give herself over to ‘Teddy’.” Jeremie answered. “But even so, Hugo’s not someone who would just go off on his own looking for something dangerous, especially with all of the radiological horror stories Sebastian’s shared. Chances are, he’s probably waiting for an incident like Teddy to pop up on the news before heading over to the cops. He would just grab Charlie, and run off for the Police Station if he knew about the factory.”

Odd decided to stay on his toes regarding Hugo. He could easily see the boy’s reasoning concerning the incident. Instead of actively searching for a deadly force that could rip him and his younger sibling to shreds, Hugo would just keep a sharp lookout until alerting the authorities...and if things kept up at the way they were going, that day might come sooner rather than later. As for Charlie, considering Hugo’s protectiveness of him, the newly-minted virtual fighter decided to consider the two as a single unit.

On the one hand, Odd thought about helping Hugo out… but on the other hand, considering how he had just immersed himself in Xanadu…the transfer student from Italy wasn’t in the mood to potentially get experimented on like one of Dr. Shrank’s test subjects.

He also made a mental note to ask if anyone was a fan of the show later.

But back to the main topic:

“Amare’s extremely calm regarding most things.” Jeremie explained. “Just like Hugo though, he’s probably waiting for an opportunity to tell someone about everything that’s happened.”

So, Amare’s situation was the same regarding Hugo, except without the protective sibling instinct. Didn’t tell Odd much more about the guy though.

Jeremie then put his hand on his chin, sighing about the last child of the group.

“Then we come to Sebastian.” He said finally.

Odd’s neck hairs stood on alert, not unlike how a cat’s hair might puff if frightened or nervous. It seemed that going into Xanadu had made him more perceptive of upcoming danger. Or maybe it was just drilled into his instincts so that he could avoid certain pranks and it was just now that Odd noticed this subconscious tendency. Whatever the case, Odd quickly clamped his hand on the back of his neck, as if he was frightened of someone noticing.

But Jeremie, the only other person in the real world right now, either did not notice, or did not care.

“Sebastian’s someone I’m really on the fence about. In his defense, he’s been here at Kadic the longest, and he’s got a, well…reputation for being the kid with the most street-smarts in our group. He’s seen all kinds of suspicious activities in town before Xanadu started acted up, but something like Teddy was out of his league. I remember him being completely on edge for a week after the incident, though...pretty certain he scared Milly a lot more than Hugo did.” The computer genius then stopped, continuing to ponder about Sebastian, debating on what to say next. “That being said, while he’s calmed down since, and so we’ve thought about letting him in on the secret, he’s still got the qualities of a Wild Card that I don’t know we can trust.”

Odd raised an eyebrow at the second display of Jeremie’s trust logic. “So, you guys are willing to trust a complete stranger, i.e. me, who has never interacted with you guys until today, versus someone you know?”

Jeremie shook his head wildly, it was clear that he had misspoken.

“No, no, nothing like that!” he exclaimed. “But Sebastian, he tends to do his own thing, and again, he was shaking in his boots long after Teddy was gone. After Milly and Tamiya, he’s the most suspicious of the anomalies around town ever since the first attack. That’s what I was trying to get at. Sebastian’s a decent guy…but I’m worried what he might try if he found out about something that he’d view as some kind of occult or Lovecraftian evil.”

“What? Are you afraid of him having a panic attack and hitting the button that blows up the universe?” Odd sarcastically asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Basically.” Jeremie confirmed without a shred of hesitation.

It was quite horrifying for Odd to hear that simply pressing the wrong button in the Factory could destroy the entire universe, whether something that outlandish was true or not. Regardless, it was clear to Odd that dealing with Sebastian would be…interesting. He would have to make up his mind about him later…and besides, if Sebastian was interested in film, well. Odd would bring that up with the boy if they ever met.

“And now we come to you.” Jeremie said.

“...Me?” Odd squeaked, even though he knew exactly what Jeremie was getting at.

“You don’t have to do this.” Jeremie said, staring directly at Odd, his glasses illuminated by the lights of the computer screen so that Odd could no longer see the boy’s eyes, which he could  _ feel _ bore into him like a drill. 

It was quite the ominous feeling.

“The powers in Xanadu are relatively easy to control, of course, it helps that going into the virtual world gives general stamina boosts and the like so that it becomes easier for your body to adapt to them, but that’s not the point. The point is, this entire situation is dangerous no matter what way you slice it. We’re stuck in a precarious situation, and we’re doing all we can to deal with it.”

Jeremie looked up at the ceiling, debating his next choice of words.

“If you don’t want to risk your life. You don’t have to.” He finally said. “All I ask is that you stay silent on the issue regardless of whether or not you want to help us. Don’t tell the others anything about this place. Keep it secret, like Yumi said.”

Silence filled the room once more, aside from the sounds of whirring motors and fans, which only added to the ambience. Odd found himself breathing in and out, trying to relax himself. He strained his ears, wondering if Jeremie had anything else to say. Yet, he did not seem to.

“What? You don’t have any red or blue pills for me to take?” Odd finally cracked out.

“No…” Jeremie said, unsure where Odd was planning to take the conversation.

“Well then…” the transfer student said, “It’s a tough call, I mean, on the one hand I’m dealing with a place that’s generating computer virus ghosts that could kill me, but on the other hand, not doing anything means that I could get killed by this place anyways.”

“So…?” Jeremie ventured, clearly hoping for a ‘yes’.

Odd was silent for a few more moments, processing everything that had happened to him. In the space of about an hour at most, his whole life had turned upside down. He did not expect to suddenly gain the ability to see into the future, and he most certainly did not expect to get roped into a battle against a rogue science experiment.

On the one hand, Jeremie was correct, Odd didn’t have to fight in Xanadu, hell, he could just stay in the real world, and hide his new abilities. He could just stay far away from the factory, and keep silent on the whole issue. But on the other hand, Odd HAD already gone into Xanadu. He had already faced off against the manifestations of the computer virus within it. And while it was disorientating how weird something like this could exist in the world at first… somehow, that nagging feeling of fear in Odd’s gut had shrunk. And if there was one thing Odd Della Robbia was not, it was a coward...despite the many claims to the contrary back home.

Of course, that didn’t mean that the factor of fear was no longer present. Odd still had some trepidations on the whole issue, after all, if he died in the virtual world, there would not be an instant ‘respawn’ like in a video game. He would be dead in real life. Of course, considering that Jeremie had shared with him the story of broken power lines turning a teddy bear into a killer robot, it might not matter if Odd was on earth or in cyberspace. At least in Xanadu you had weapons that you could defend yourself with.

All things considered at the point of no return, Odd made his decision.

The boy brought up his hand. Jeremie could see that it was shaking from Odd being nervous. Looking at Odd showed a mischievous, albeit still nervous, smirk on his face.

“I’ll do it.” He said. “But you’d better tell me more about what’s happened since that long story you told me!”

Jeremie took Odd’s hand, and the two shook, indicating the confirmation of a pact. Odd was now in the group.

As the two disengaged, Jeremie turned back towards his computer screen, Odd now standing above him and looking over the other boy’s shoulder.

“Like I said before.” Jeremie explained, getting right to the point, “Xanadu tends to create significant disturbances about twice a week. Thanks to our efforts, we’ve managed to keep the damage caused to a minimum, so far, we’ve only had traffic jams and other minor disturbances.”

Odd decided not to pry into what those other minor disturbances were.

“Unfortunately, we STILL don’t know why the Professor created it.” Jeremie clarified, “I’ve been looking through the logs of the supercomputer, but I haven’t found anything related to what happened in the past. Any records of the research done here have either been wiped from the memory of the supercomputer, or they’re in a heavily secured part that we don’t have access to.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Odd murmured. “So, I’m going to guess you haven’t found a way to shut this place down yet without destroying the rest of the planet?”

Jeremie, now studying Ulrich and Yumi’s progress from the monitor, shrugged morosely, frustration quite evident in his face.

“No.” he grumbled. “I’ve been trying to run scans of Xanadu’s systems for a month now, and I STILL haven’t found anything that could indicate how to freeze or delete the Specters from Xanadu’s source code without damaging the virtual world, and thus, the real world as well.”

“Great...” Odd mumbled sarcastically.

No other questions were asked as a sudden feeling of exhaustion overcame Odd as he flopped back onto the couch. Once again, stillness came into the air, broken only by the clicking of Jeremie typing on the computer as Ulrich and Yumi completed their recon and finally, were rematerialized 20 minutes later once they could confirm that there were no other Specters.

“So? Is he-?” Yumi started to ask, referring to Odd’s status.

“Yup.” Jeremie said, giving a curt nod of confirmation.

“Welcome aboard.” Ulrich deadpanned, folding his arms.

“Great to be aboard…I guess?” Odd asked, giving another nervous chuckle.

Ulrich just nodded, and after he, Yumi, and Jeremie had helped themselves to the remaining pizza in the fridge, along with a few hot dogs, the four children exited the factory, with Kiwi following his master obediently. The three veteran virtual fighters made sure to take their transportation equipment this time around and place them in the area they had designated in the sewers to store it. Climbing out of the sewer, the four exited the woods, and snuck back into the school courtyard. As they walked, Odd saw students exiting the lunchroom, and then noticed two girls staring at them. He quickly recognized them from Jeremie’s recounting.

“Psst, the paparazzi.” He whispered to Jeremie, who took notice of Milly and Tamiya cautiously tailing them.

Before anything could be done about the duo, the four warriors were suddenly intercepted by Amare, Charlie, and Hugo, who seemed to appear from nowhere.

“Where were you guys?” Amare asked, getting straight to the point.

“Showing the new guy around.” Ulrich replied bluntly.

“The new guy?” Amare asked, before taking notice of Odd.

“Yo!” Odd grinned, holding his hand up for a high-five, trying to look inconspicuous.

Amare began to reply, but Hugo stormed in front before he could get the chance. “What’s with the dog? Is it a stray?” he asked, causing Charlie to look at Kiwi. The younger child’s eyes widened with glee.

“PUPPY!” Charlie cried out, running towards Kiwi, who barked frantically and started running away from the young child.

“Uh, no. That would be MY dog.” Odd answered, before turning around and trying to get Kiwi’s attention.

“Here Kiwi!” Odd called, causing the mutt to turn around and run to his owner for protection, hiding behind Odd in desperation.

“Charlie, stop that!” Hugo commanded.

“But, it’s a doggie!” Charlie whimpered as he rejoined his brother. “We never get doggies here!”

“He’s housebroken, right?” Hugo asked, ignoring his younger brother’s protests.

“If he wasn’t, I don’t think I’d be allowed to bunk with Ulrich here.” Odd said, pointing at the stoic brunette.

“So, this is that roommate guy you were complaining about, Stern.” A new voice said.

The seven children turned around, and saw Sebastian walking towards them. The lanky boy scrutinized Odd, taking notice of the latter’s hair. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“That isn’t natural, is it?” Sebastian asked, pointing at Odd’s hairstyle.

“I was just going to ask that!” Amare exclaimed, also taking notice of Odd’s hair.

“Hey, it’s how I style it, the ladies love it.” Odd said, trying to sound cool and suave.

Hugo looked at Yumi, who stared back with an expression worthy of Ulrich’s normally stoic face, while Ulrich himself was facepalming silently at Odd’s reply. “Truly, it is the ultimate magnet for women.” he deadpanned.

“Great, a flirt!” Sebastian complained. “Dunbar was bad enough, especially after that spandex incident, and he doesn’t even go to this school!”

“Dunbar?” Odd asked, remembering the name from the recounting of Xanadu’s discovery, but not letting it show. “Who’s he?”

“William Dunbar’s the classical ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ archetype.” Sebastian replied, gagging from saying the words. “He’s a disgusting womanizer, and I was really hoping that his kind would stay at Asimov where they belong. Now they’ve come to Kadic! The world is ending.”

“Hey, I take offense to that! I’ll have you know that I’m a fun guy, guaranteed to put a smile on your face, not some ‘bad boy’ cliché!” Odd argued.

“Really? A funny guy? How?” Sebastian demanded, only for Kiwi to answer that question for his owner. The little dog jumped on Sebastian, knocking the taller boy over and began licking Sebastian’s face all over, barking as he did so.

“GAHH!” the ‘Street Kid’ cried out, much to the amusement of his classmates.

“I want to get licked by the doggie too!” Charlie complained, and started after Kiwi again. The dog jumped off Sebastian in a fright and started running in circles, Charlie following close by.

“Well, not that kind of fun, but you get the point!” Odd laughed, “Behold the power of my little diggity dog!”

Sebastian suddenly stood up, and loomed over Odd menacingly. The shorter boy gulped, fear now entering his system as he started to understand Jeremie’s trepidation concerning Sebastian. The taller individual carried a heavy aura of menace when angry, quite capable of intimidating anyone who got out of line.

Sebastian calmly put a hand on Odd’s shoulder.

“What’s your last name?” he asked, voice deathly quiet.

“D-Della Robbia.” Odd said, sweat dropping.

“Well then, Della Robbia…” Sebastian began, glaring downwards towards Odd, his eyes locked in an intense glare.

“You’re all right!” he chuckled, eyes lightening up as he patted Odd on the shoulder.

“Wait, what?” Odd asked.

Sebastian looked at Odd in the eye. “Look Della Robbia, I’ve met all kinds of people in my life. Some were nice people, others were jerks that I wouldn’t shed a tear for, others were too stupid to understand that there were things going around that didn’t involve them, and a certain other person never really knew how to take ‘no’ for answer.”

“Okay…” Odd said cautiously.

“First impressions tell a lot about people Della Robbia. I get the feeling that you’re the kind of person who is comic, has energy, and sucks at having a love life.”

“I take offense to that last one!” Odd snapped, partly annoyed, partly relieved. “I’m great with girls!”

“Sure, you are.” Sebastian chuckled, calming down. “...Which is honestly a relief…”

“If it helps, he managed to dissolve the you-know-what.” Jeremie contributed, gesturing over to Ulrich and Yumi.

“WAIT, WHAT?!” The two spluttered in unison.

“He got the two to confess to each other?” Amare asked. “That was quick.”

BAM!

Ulrich and Yumi stomped away, leaving Amare face-down in the dirt.

“Ow.” The boy deadpanned, clutching his stomach from where it had been punched in sync.

“Are you okay?” Odd asked.

“Yeah…” Amare chuckled as he staggered to his feet. “I’ve taken worse, don’t worry about it. That comment was worth it. You’ll fit right in here.”

“Welcome aboard, Della Robbia.” Sebastian said, holding out a handshake for Odd to take.

Looking around at the scene before him, Odd marveled at the contrast between the weirdness of the factory versus the relative normality of his school. He could see Milly and Tamiya still peeking behind their tree, Ulrich and Yumi walking away out of embarrassment, Charlie chasing Kiwi, but now with Hugo running after him to restrain him, and the other kids either walking around, or staring at the scenes that had just occurred with amusement.

This was a far cry from the dark and oppressive atmosphere of the factory by a long shot, not to mention being infinitely preferable. Odd wondered what Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi had thought about this contrast during the month that they had begun to deal with Xanadu before he came into the picture. Inwardly, Odd let out a sigh of resignation, and focused his attention on Sebastian.

“Great to be aboard.” Odd replied, smiling as he returned the handshake.

“But if that dog tries licking me like that again, we’ll be having a nice, long talk.” Sebastian growled, dragging Odd to his chest, gripping the new kid’s wrist tightly, making the threat very clear.

“I’ll make sure Kiwi does not lick you without your permission.” Odd chuckled nervously. “Now, uh, can you let go of my arm?”

“We can use him in pranks though, right?” Amare asked as Sebastian did as the new kid requested.

Odd’s eyes lit up. “Trust me, I’ve got a list of Kiwi-related practical jokes.”

“Okay, so the dog could be useful then.” Sebastian noted, deep in thought.

“He does have a certain aura to himself.” Jeremie chuckled ruefully.

“A certain aura?” Sebastian asked, left eyebrow raised.

“It was...quite the first meeting.” Jeremie replied, shuddering.

Amare, Sebastian, and Odd soon let out a hearty laugh… before Odd had to go and get Kiwi away from the cloud of dust forming from the chase he was in.

Milly and Tamiya continued watching the scene before them, watching as it settled down and the crowd that had started to form from looking at the dog chase dissipate as soon as it had started.

“So, that’s the new guy.” Tamiya noted. “I don’t see why Charlie thinks his dog is cute, he looks kind of ugly to me.”

“I actually thought for a moment that he’d gotten Ulrich and Yumi to get together! WHHHYYYYY?!” Milly groaned to the heavens.

“Uh, Milly, that Odd guy doesn’t look like the kind of person I’d trust to play matchmaker.” Tamiya deadpanned. “Not to mention that that ISN’T the reason we’re hiding behind a tree?”

“Oh yeah!” Milly said, snapping back to reality.

“That’s about either the fourth or fifth time Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi have skipped out on a meal or a class.” Tamiya muttered. “And now the new guy goes missing with them? Something’s been up with those three ever since uh, you know.”

“Teddy.” Milly breathed quietly before shaking her head as she repressed the memories of the robotic beast. “I don’t get why the others are just laughing at all of this right now though. They kept looking at me like I was gonna go crazy again...” 

“Maybe we should follow Ulrich and Yumi.” Tamiya whispered, wanting to end that topic as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the duo as they tried to look around the campus, the crowds of other children were obstructing their view, and it was clear that the two in-denial lovebirds had left the courtyard. So, that idea was down the drain.

“Maybe we should try something else?” Milly questioned once it became clear that there was no immediate sign of Ulrich or Yumi.

Tamiya scratched her chin in thought.

“For now, let’s fall back, we still have to get this week’s issue of the  _ Kadic News _ ready.” She said at last.

“Alright.” Milly replied, and the two girls left the courtyard.

As for the other kids, they had begun to slip into conversations, digging more into Odd’s background and revealing more of the school’s functions to the boy. Overall, it was exactly the kind of conversation you could expect when you were the new kid.

“So, where exactly did you come from?” Sebastian asked.

“Italy.” Odd replied.

“Really? You speak French pretty well, I can’t even hear an accent.” Amare noted.

“What can I say? I’ve got a knack for this kind of thing.” Odd replied with a smug smile on his face.

“I can barely string two syllables together on foreign languages.” Jeremie said mournfully. “It’s one of the two subjects I suck at.”

“What’s the other one?” Odd asked, though he had a suspicion on what that subject was.

“What else? Physical Education. I can barely keep up whenever Jim has us run laps!” Jeremie complained.

“To be honest…I kind of saw that one coming.” Odd replied.

“Abel the younger runs faster than Belpois.” Sebastian remarked dryly.

“Abel the younger?” Odd asked.

“Abel, it’s me and my brother’s last name.” Hugo clarified, keeping a firm arm on Charlie, who was still struggling to grab Kiwi, who remained hidden behind his owner’s legs.

“Ah, I see.” Odd said simply.

But before anything else could be said, suddenly, the scene seemed to jump about a minute forward. Odd’s eyes widened as the entire courtyard seemed to change to an orange monochrome. Everything seemed normal, except Hugo was now glaring at Odd, eyes narrowed into suspicious slits, and was about to ask a certain question to him. A question that could’ve been very dangerous…

**_“So…now that we’ve gotten the icebreakers out the way, I have to ask you something Odd, just like I have to ask you something Jeremie…where exactly were you guys on campus when the lunch hour started anyways? I can’t believe it would take you that long to show someone around the school.”_ **

Odd blinked, and his eyes briefly darted around. The courtyard had returned to its normal coloration, with things seeming to return to normal.

_ ‘What the heck was that?’ _ Odd thought to himself, before he realized that it had been the phenomenon he’d experienced on Xanadu.

_ ‘Oh crap, it’s my Anticipation power...Note to self, give that power a cooler name sometime. Also, I need to change the subject, quick!” _

Hugo was already preparing to ask Odd the question concerning the whereabouts of himself, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi! Taking a quick look at Jeremie, Odd had a feeling that despite the warnings that the blond boy had given him, without Ulrich or Yumi around, Jeremie managing to deflect suspicion would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible.

Thankfully, if there was one thing Odd Della Robbia was good at, it was turning conversations away from suspicious subjects.

“Oh! I just remembered! I wanted to ask about the school activities here!” Odd said, thinking quickly. “Is there anything here related to…uh, film by perchance?”

Sebastian’s face lit up at that question.

“You’re talking my language Della Robbia!” he exclaimed happily, as if relieved to find someone in his group who shared his interests. “Mr. Chardin, our drama teacher, is the head of the film club! It’s how we…well…has Belpois told you about our…film activities?”

“About the film club?” Odd asked, feigning ignorance about the off-campus dealings that had been a package deal in the backstory of Xanadu.

“No, no…though I honestly don’t expect Belpois to tell anyone anything that isn’t about computers, math, or science.”

“Ha, ha.” Jeremie said dryly, rolling his eyes.

“Well…if I know you’re into it, let’s just say that Chardin’s classes aren’t the only way to show off movies. I’ve got plenty of film reels, some original, others being samples that our school has access to. If you want to join up, you’re welcome to do so.” Sebastian explained.

“I consider myself an aspiring film-maker myself.” Odd replied. “I don’t have actual reels, but I do have some prototype storyboards I’ve been itching to show off.”

“Well…now you’ve got my attention, I want to see them.” Sebastian said, interest gleaming in his eyes as he rubbed his hands with anticipation.

Off to the side, Jeremie noticed a flash of irritation cross Hugo’s face while Amare looked on with a bemused expression. Charlie continued to stare at Kiwi.

“I’ll go grab them!” Odd said, “you coming?”

“Definitely.” Sebastian replied, and the two set off, Kiwi close behind them.

“Well, I’ve got some programs to review and I need to check up on my robots.” Jeremie said to Amare and Hugo, “See you guys later!”

And much like Odd and Sebastian, he hurried away without another word.

Silence filled the air as Amare, Charlie, and Hugo now stood alone with one another. As Jeremie, Odd, and Sebastian left their sight, Hugo snapped his fingers in annoyance.

“Damn it!” he cursed.

“Something up?” Amare asked as he folded his arms behind his head and leaned against a tree.

“You know exactly what’s up!” Hugo hissed. “Ever since that…nightmare, robot, thing popped up, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi have developed this weird habit of disappearing for a while before popping right back up as if nothing’s happened!”

“Dude, it was only like, what, eight times, eleven times tops? Besides, I haven’t been seeing any evil stuffed bunnies shooting lasers out of their eyes or a cat growing swords out of its stomach on campus.” Amare pointed out. “They’re fine.”

“Evil stuffed bunnies?” Charlie asked in fear.

Hugo sighed and patted his brother on the head. “There are no evil stuffed bunnies little brother.”

“Phew.” Charlie breathed in unironic relief.

“Bottom line, I think you’re getting a bit too paranoid about this thing.” Amare noted. “You don’t see Milly or Tamiya raising a storm about this, and they’re Kadic’s gossip queens for crying out loud!”

“I know those three are hiding something.” Hugo growled, a hateful look in his eyes. “I don’t want some kind of… _ thing _ popping up and trying to kill me and my brother again.”

“Don’t forget the rest of us.” Amare deadpanned. “I’d like to join you two in surviving the attack of the mutant vulture from Dr. Schrank’s Laboratory.”

“Okay, yeah, but still, you get the point…” Hugo murmured.

“Look, if they DO have something to do with it, I’ve got a pretty good guess that they’re trying to STOP whatever turned Milly’s teddy bear into a killer robot.” Amare surmised with a shrug. “And since the only things we’ve seen since then have been the occasional blackout and a slightly increased traffic accident rate, I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be okay.”

“So says you.” Hugo growled in reply.

“Look, let’s go practice some baseball okay? Jeremie’s not the only one training to take down those guys at Asimov.” Amare said.

Hugo gave a begrudging sigh. “Alright. Let’s go. Come on, Charlie.”

Charlie silently nodded as the three left for the fields.

* * *

Sebastian looked over Odd’s shoulder as the spiky-haired boy brought out a large purple binder. Within it there were tabbed pages, separating them into sets of storyboards and idea prompts. Odd flipped through the binder’s pages, looking for a set that had been on his mind for a while…

“Ah! Here it is!” he exclaimed, and revealed the storyboards to Sebastian.

The tall boy read over the set of pages critically. He noticed basic prompts that summarized what the scenes were meant to convey, and then looked at the actual storyboards. They flowed seamlessly, and Sebastian was impressed at the level of detail Odd had put into making them. He was confused on what exactly was  _ meant  _ to happen however, and had to look back at the prompt in order to understand what was going on.

After a few minutes of silence, during which Kiwi hopped up onto Odd’s bed and went back to sleep, tired after Charlie’s chasing him, Sebastian gave his critique.

“Okay, on the one hand, this is pretty good art…but on the other hand, it’s kind of…abstract and confusing, don’t you think?”

“I try to enlighten the audience Sebastian.” Odd explained with a proud puff of his chest. “Back home, I’ve screened several films in front of the ignoramuses known as the masses, trying to show them the value of true expression and art.”

“That’s better than a lot of the cliché, run-of-the mill stuff I end up seeing a lot… but the thing about abstract art is that it’s a huge mixed bag.” Sebastian replied. “Sometimes, a person will want to read or watch something more than just a statement. This is the kind of stuff where, if you’re not too careful, you’ll come off as pretentious.”

“More than just a statement?!” Odd burst out in offense. “I’m shooting for high art here!”

“Anyone can come up with a long, fancy statement…though to your credit, I’m not seeing any purple prose here.” Sebastian replied. “...Yeah, you’re definitely more on the art side than the story side…”

“Not a lot of people seem to try my style.” Odd countered.

“But anyone with half a brain could.” Sebastian pointed out. “An ignoramus, like you said, would never understand the message that you’re trying to put out. But someone with a more critical mind could easily realize that this message can be espoused by any two people riding in a car or a bus. You need something with more...substance here.”

“More substance?” Odd asked in confusion. “From what you just told me, it’s starting to sound like less is more!”

“I’m talking about real-life Della Robbia!” Sebastian revealed. “A person’s struggles, what they deal with, the harsh reality of life! When a beggar sits around haggling for change, or when a college student is preparing themselves to live on their own, they won’t be sitting around thinking about high concepts like the ‘Unity of Mind’, ‘The permeance of existence’, or ‘The Presence of Hope’, they’ll be thinking about what they’re going to try to eat next or what bill they’ll have to pay!”

Odd rubbed his head sheepishly, unable to say anything as Sebastian ranted on. The taller boy watched Odd back away, before taking a deep breath.

“Sorry for that filibuster.” He apologized, “The brutal nature of real-life tends to be my kind of style. Realism and grit are what I try to shoot for…even though getting that message through is getting harder day by day.”

Now Odd was confused, what on earth did Sebastian mean by the nature of real-life getting harder to see?

“How is it harder for realism to get here day by day?” he asked. “It all looks pretty real to me.”

“You haven’t been around town much Della Robbia.” Sebastian answered. “From what I know and hear, back when the lot of us all were in kindergarten, before the Panic, things around the world weren’t always so weird. There weren’t any hobos going around stealing high technology, said high technology was still stuck in a book or a movie, and us kids would never have to deal with a…uh…weird robot thing some idiot let loose.” 

“Weird robot thing?” Odd pretended to ask, even though he knew exactly what Sebastian was talking about.

But the senior junior filmmaker ignored Odd’s question and instead continued to rant. “Ever since then though…pretty much everything’s been turning into the setting of a sci-fi novel. I’ve read up on this kind of thing…the world’s getting stranger day by day…I don’t know why but…I just want people to know that even if things are turning into a movie…mundane facts shouldn’t be ignored.”

Odd was quiet as he processed Sebastian’s words. It didn’t take him long to realize what Sebastian had meant by mundane facts. The image of Xanadu came to mind…followed up by the room suddenly turning an orange monochrome as his Anticipation activated again.

**_“Why do you think things are getting weirder?”_ **

**_“I think you may have the answers to that…”_ **

Odd covered his face with his hands to hide his reaction. He knew what Sebastian meant…but it seemed that if he attempted to refute that, the secret Jeremie and the others wanted him to keep would be in danger of getting out less than five hours after he’d been entrusted with it. Odd needed to bring up a different topic, and he quickly dredged his brain for one, if his brain HAD a different topic of course.

“Well, if you mean things like family and the like…I get that.” Odd said quickly. “Not a lot of things ‘Star Wars’ can say about that.”

“Oh, definitely.” Sebastian agreed.

“…But, I guess they’re just a part of living. No matter how strange your world might get, you might as well do your best to live in it!” Odd said hastily.

“A bit cliché,” Sebastian grunted, “but not untrue, I guess.  _ That _ grounding element is what should be present in your work.”

Inwardly, Odd breathed a sigh of relief, he’d managed to keep the topic away from Xanadu. Personally, he didn’t feel like adopting Sebastian’s style any time soon. 

“You could tell me a bit more about the film club, right?” he asked Sebastian.

“Sure, let’s head down to Mr. Chardin’s classroom, he tends to keep it open there on Sundays.” Sebastian replied, before stroking his chin in thought.

Odd closed the binder, tucked it into his arm, and left the room with Sebastian. Kiwi’s eyelids rose up briefly, but fell down again as the little dog continued to nap. As Odd and Sebastian walked down the hallways, making their way over to Gustave Chardin’s classroom, Sebastian spoke up.

“Given that you’re now bunkmates with Stern,” Sebastian said, “I’m tempted to let you into our little…off campus club.”

“There’s nothing illegal in there, right?” Odd asked, even though he knew the answer. “Nothing like adults say we kids shouldn’t know because they’re inappropriate, but then we just figure it out anyways?”

“…No.” Sebastian deadpanned. “I mean that…well…we’ve got ourselves a private room off-campus…In fact, this might be a good time for me to explain to you the rules of this place.”

“The dorm rules?” Odd asked quizzically, “Jim said that Ulrich would explain them to me…you know, so long as he remembered them.”

“No, not those.” Sebastian dismissed with a wave of his hand. “I meant when classes have ended and everyone is out on their merry way. A lot of kids in all of the campuses: Kadic, Asimov, Hellis, we’ve all staked out personal territories for ourselves around our schools, places where the older riff-raff tend to ignore for better territory. We use these spaces as personal hang-outs outside of campus.”

“You’ve actually staked out territory?” Odd gaped in disbelief, “What’s with this town? It’s like West Side Story!”

“I never liked that movie…but I digress.” Sebastian grumbled. “To answer your question, it’s been like this ever since the Panic. Why else do you think I’ve been calling the whole place weird? People have been carving up territory for themselves, and somewhere down the line, us kids decided to try it out ourselves.”

“I’m surprised the media hasn’t told anyone about this.” Odd noted.

“We live in a dark world Della Robbia.” Sebastian muttered grimly. “Either the jackals and vultures that Solovieff and Diop want to grow up into got used to it and don’t care anymore, or someone’s been bribing the networks and hacking the news sites. I wouldn’t put the latter past Belpois, especially ever since he turned his space into a laboratory.”

Odd thought back to home, and now back to Boulogne-Billancourt. Thinking back to home, and taking Sebastian’s words about a changing world into account, he saw what Sebastian meant by a ‘dark world’ and things getting weird. Odd had read up on Paris…and while he had heard of its reconstruction history here and there, he was just looking for anything that would’ve made the prospect of heading over there seem more favorable to his parents if and when he got the chance. He likely had skipped over the parts Sebastian was expositing to him right now...mainly since there was the chance that it might cause them to say ‘no’, and Odd had not exactly been in the mood to take ‘no’ for an answer at the time.

“Eh, dark world, schmark world.” Odd replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah, it does.” Sebastian muttered darkly,. “Either way, us nine: Belpois, Ishiyama, Solovieff, Abel the Elder, Stern, myself, Arendse, Abel the Younger, and Diop, we’ve got our territory in an underpass located not too far away from the school.”

“You did mention a space Jeremie was using, does that mean he’s turned your entire territory into Dr. Shrank’s laboratory?”

“What? No, and that show sank in quality after Season 2.” Sebastian replied.

“It got better in Season 4.” Odd countered.

“Only marginally.” Sebastian huffed, “but that’s not the point! The thing is, we have a few…select rooms and spaces in there, the main one being a sort of…home movie theater we’ve built up. On the weekends, we tend to head down there in order to watch several films selected for entertainment. Also, we’ve got reserved spaces for other people in our group set up, but only Belpois and Stern took up the offer. Belpois’ space is pretty much a hacker cave…though how he managed to install a security door in there I’ll never know.”

“…Really? He got an industrial-grade security door in there?” Odd asked, bewildered.

“Not industrial-grade. It was scavenged from the town dump and then jury-rigged.” Sebastian replied. “Just be glad he found that and not some leaking radiotherapy capsule.”

“I’m not even going to ask.” Odd said, chuckling in spite of himself. He had a pretty good guess as to how Jeremie would get something like that into his space.

He also did not want to think about what Jeremie would do with something radioactive.

“So, are you interested or not?” Sebastian asked.

“In a private space, or the movie watching offer?” Odd asked.

“Yeah, you’re going to have to wait until I can be sure that you’re eligible for a private space. It’s the movie offer.” Sebastian replied.

“Eligible for private space? Are you trying to become a landlord or something?” Odd asked.

“Just wanting to make sure you can be trusted.” Sebastian replied, looking at Odd in the eye.

“Oh.” Odd said, shrinking back nervously as he answered the question. “I’ll take the move watching offer.”

“Alrighty then. After we’re done with Mr. Chardin, I’ll guide you down there.” Sebastian said. “Speaking of Mr. Chardin, we’re nearly there.”

Odd looked forward and saw that he and Sebastian were nearing Mr. Chardin’s classroom.

“Great!” Odd said as he picked up the pace, worried about what Sebastian might say next, and wanting to make sure that he wouldn’t get the chance for the rest of the day.

But he needn’t have worried. Sebastian wasn’t planning on saying anything else. He didn’t have Hugo’s zealous over-protection of a sibling, though he had his suspicions as to what was happening. Three people he knew disappearing and then showing up with the new kid? That was way too coincidental. But for now, he’d keep his mouth shut. He’d let the issue of…whatever was behind the monster slip for now as he and the others got to know Della Robbia.

But when the time came, Sebastian was going to seize the moment and figure out what had happened.

He just hoped it wasn’t  _ too _ occult. 

Jeremie remained holed up in his room to fix up his coding, mainly in programming a new firewall to block out Xanadu activity from his equipment. As he did so, an idea that had been floating in his head popped up. As Jeremie wrote up the code for the firewall, he proceeded to write new code to integrate into it. If this worked out…well. It might prove to be of great convenience to him and his friends later down the line.

His friends…

As Jeremie finished installing the new firewall, he leaned back in his chair and thought about what had happened. He remembered bemoaning the inconvenience of Ulrich getting a roommate a week before, especially when they were still learning about Xanadu. Keeping the secret and debating on when to introduce to people that he’d known for a while was one thing, but an entirely new factor that he had never seen coming was another.

Jeremie had then been tempted to use the supercomputer to hack into the Kadic records and delete the data relating to the transfer student, but he’d thought better of such a hasty plan…mainly because when he tried a tentative approach to test what he’d be upagainst, he had been blocked off by the school security system.

It was then that Jeremie cursed Deckard Inc. and their rather high-quality security software. Dealing with run-of-the mill firewalls were simple, but the programs written by that company were on a whole other level. Jeremie decided to not risk a security breach by using the supercomputer and scrapped the idea.

Of course, part of him did want to wonder how Kadic had managed to obtain such software in the first place...

His stomach churned with the idea of endangering his friends. Keeping secrets like this was proving to be more stressful than Jeremie had thought, and he thanked whatever god existed that the disturbances in Xanadu were still weak enough for a couple of kids to destroy.

But at the same time, the factory and its technological marvels were amazing, so much so that Jeremie felt more of a sense of calm and relief rather than trepidation whenever he stepped into the factory and began working on the supercomputer. An entire virtual world existed within the system, and the sheer size and magnitude of the complex indicated that a great deal of research had taken place there. Jeremie remembered what he had seen when he had gone deeper into the bowels of the factory. A Nuclear Fusion reactor. An honest to god nuclear fusion reactor! Keeping updated with the news showed that the progress to making them was still underway, and yet, here was one completed long before any of them! What had happened here to keep such a technological marvel hidden from the rest of the world?

The fact that this virtual world’s existence had broken down the divide between what was real and what was not had also amazed Jeremie. Ulrich and Yumi now possessed incredible powers, Ulrich could move at high-speeds, and Yumi had powerful telekinesis. And this was disregarding the basic increases to their stamina and strength, along with the addition of Odd, who now had the power of seeing into the future.

Of course, basic increases in durability hadn’t been enough when he’d obtained the old metal doorway from the junkyard. Yumi had to use her telekinesis so Jeremie could sneak it into the underpass and use it to hide his lab. That had been one heck of a night…he could still remember how Ulrich and Yumi had used him as a training dummy as payment for such services.

After all of that, Jeremie was tempted to try to virtualize himself…but decided against it. He was not a fighter. He was more useful as an operator and scientist. Fighting the Specters…he doubted that he could handle it…

But a part of him suspected that that might be a line that he would have to cross someday. He hoped however deep down, that it would never come to that.

Hence why he ultimately welcomed the idea of a new team member. Odd’s inclusion was a risky gambit, but it seemed to be paying off…for now anyways. Jeremie had no idea if Sebastian would pry the secret out of the new kid so soon after his induction, but there was nothing he could do about it that would cause the secret to be unraveled anyways.

If he could manage to get the others into the loop without them freaking out…Jeremie would’ve been quite happy, but considering how they were traumatized by the Teddy Bear Terminator, it might be better to wait until later.

If only waiting could remain an option…Jeremie didn’t have Odd’s power of anticipation, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut that things were going to get intense from this point onwards.

But sitting around doing nothing would accomplish exactly what doing nothing would accomplish: Nothing. Picking up his laptop, Jeremie left for his laboratory in the underpass so that he could update the firewall in the computer there with the new program.

_ ‘I don’t know what’s in store for us...but that doesn’t mean that I can’t try to prepare.’  _ He thought as he left his dorm room.

* * *

Amare was determined to pacify Hugo as they practiced with other members of the team, who were also planning on getting in some independent practice in preparation for the inter-school competition against Asimov. Currently, Amare and Hugo were in a team pair, alternating catches with one another. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep his friend occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

Hugo remained quiet as the two practiced, the only sounds being the grunts of everyone present, along with Jim yelling advice.

“Keep your eye on the ball!”

“Go long!”

“Stop shaking, it isn’t winter!”

Jim’s advice left a bit to be desired at times.

“Abel! Throw the ball already!”

Amare blinked and saw that Hugo was still holding the baseball, hands clenched around it, shaking.

“Hey uh, maybe that isn’t such a good idea Jim!” Amare protested.

Unfortunately, Hugo, in his blind rage, had thought that Jim had had a good idea, and launched the ball right into Amare’s stomach.

“BLAGH!” Amare gurgled as he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

“What was that about Abel?!” Jim barked as he marched over to Amare, who was clutching his stomach as he tried to breathe again.

“C’mon Arendse, breathe.” Jim comforted as he clutched Amare’s shoulders.

“Really helpful there Jim.” Amare croake, desperately gasping for air.

“Abel! Get over here! NOW!” Jim roared.

Hugo quickly straightened up and walked cautiously over. Amare managed a glance, and saw that the dark, angry look that had consumed the blue-capped boy’s face had lightened somewhat, replaced with shame at having injured his best friend.

At least, that’s what Amare hoped he was seeing.

“It’s alright…” Amare breathed. “Just an accident, I think. I don’t think I need to see the nurse.”

“R-right! Right! It was an accident! Sorry, I just, uh, had my head in the clouds, that’s all!” Hugo stammered out.

“You better have had your head in the clouds Abel! Save a throw like that for those bastards at Asimov!” Jim barked as he got up. “You two go rest on the bleachers, and then get back to practice.”

“Yes Jim.” Hugo muttered sullenly as the coach stomped away.

“And I thought Ulrich could get ill-tempered.” Amare chuckled grimly as he managed to stand back up.

The two thus obeyed the gym teacher, and got into the bleachers, with Charlie following, sitting down next to his older brother. They were quiet for a short while, mainly to give Amare time to get all of his breath back.

“Sorry.” Hugo apologized when his friend had stopped wheezing and was breathing evenly again.

Amare massaged his stomach, before managing to crack a grin. “You’re still hung up on the whole ‘secrets and monsters’ thing?”

“I still don’t get why you aren’t.” Hugo grumbled, tempted to face-palm at yet another example of Amare’s light attitude.

“We haven’t seen anything like Teddy for a month now. No one’s going to try to hurt your little brother.” Amare replied, pointing at Charlie, who had already become bored by the quiet and was now watching the other players practice.

Hugo sighed. “I know but…that, that... _ thing _ . How the heck does something like that pop up? I mean, broken power lines turning a teddy bear into a crazy villain straight out of anime? That’s…ugh. I-I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Ironic, we were all giving Milly crap so that she could get rid of it and now here we are, still haunted by Teddy to this very day as we complain about.” Amare noted.

“Sebastian and I are still haunted by it. You don’t really seem to care.” Hugo grunted.

“Oh no, I’m still haunted about it.” Amare replied, tone remaining chipper despite the offense thrown his way. “I just know that Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and that new guy, Odd, are helping to protect us from those things.” 

“How do you know that?!” Charlie asked, causing Amare and Hugo to jump. When had he returned to the conversation?

“It’s pretty obvious if you think about it.” Amare answered, coughing to steady himself. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on with them. Disappearances at convenient times, reports of an occasional accident, Ulrich and Yumi popping up covered in sweat, c’mon,it should be obvious.” 

“Oh, okay, they’re protecting us!” Charlie said innocently.

“Just keep it a secret, okay?” Amare asked, winking.

Charlie nodded, and then returned to watching the baseball players practice, as if he had never intruded on the worries of his elders in the slightest.

“You’re still guessing though.” Hugo pointed out once he was sure Charlie was no longer listening. “Ulrich and Yumi could just be making out for all we know!”

“Well, well, someone just shot their suspicion theory in the foot.” Amare chuckled.

“Okay, those two would probably never even kiss each other on the cheek until the sun blows up, or until the heat death of the universe, but…”

“But ultimately, I think we should wait this out for now.” Amare interrupted. “Any questioning as it is will just make them suspicious, and if they are guarding some kind of secret, they might not tell us, and while I don’t know about you, I’d like to know about what it is that wants to kill me.”

“If that’s the case, then we should be questioning them. Not waiting it out.” Hugo scowled.

“Okay, say that you do get your answer, what then?” Amare asked.

“I’m going straight to the cops.” Hugo replied bluntly, ignoring Amare’s deadpan look.

“You honestly think they’ll believe us the instant you mention a giant Teddy Bear monster?” Amare asked.

“Seeing is Believing you know.” Hugo replied, seemingly confident in the efficiency of the Boulogne Billancourt police force. “If something like that ever shows up again, and the cops spot it, then they’ll have to believe us.”

“That’s a uh...fair point.” Amare somewhat conceded, though his tone of voice conveyed a very different opinion of what would or would not happen if Hugo broke the delicate balance they all stood on. “But for now, drop it, and while you’re at it, keep this in mind Hugo.”

“Keep what in mind?” Hugo grumbled.

“If there’s a reason we’re not being told, then it’s probably a good reason.” Amare said.

Hugo’s eyes widened in shock. “Good reason?!” the baseball player spluttered. “What if Jeremie’s not telling us anything because he found some chick who’s connected to all of this weird stuff and is endangering us all just so he can get a girlfriend?!”

“Yeah, that’s not a good reason at all, and I’d gladly help you out if that was true.” Amare answered. “But I’ve got a feeling in my gut that that isn’t the reason. Pretty certain Jeremie doesn’t swing in either direction anyways.”

“He better have a good reason, or I’m going to drown him in the Seine.” Hugo muttered angrily.

“Either case. Drop. It. Now.” Amare commanded, his easy-going tone changing to a sharp and commanding one. “Focus on baseball practice. If you start thinking about the weird stuff, think about one of those Asimov jerks and how good it would feel to beat them down instead.”

Hugo breathed in and out, letting his voice become even again. “Sure...sure…”

“Alright then, let’s get back to practicing!” Amare chirped, as if they had never had such a dark and intense discussion at all, jumping off the bleachers and heading back to the field.

Hugo sighed and looked at his little brother, who looked back at him.

“Is something wrong Hugo?” Charlie asked.

There were plenty of things that were wrong right now. But Hugo decided not to worry his brother any longer for the day.

“No little brother.” He said calmly, and he left the bleachers to continue practicing.

* * *

Ulrich remained cooped up in his private gymnasium. He was currently meditating, eyes closed as he breathed in and out, calming himself. Everything was quiet, except for the buzzing of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Ulrich felt around his pocket for a stopwatch that he had placed in there. Silently, Ulrich pressed the ‘Start’ button. Then, with a flash, Ulrich jumped into a fighting stance and let loose a quick barrage of punches at the freestanding punching bag in front of him. Just as quickly, Ulrich then let loose a flurry of kicks at the punching bag.

Stopping, Ulrich panted, before taking the stopwatch out of his pocket and stopping it. He looked at the time critically.

“Tch, not fast enough.” He muttered, seeing the indication of 90 seconds on the stopwatch.

Training helped calm Ulrich down. It helped him unwind after a mission in Xanadu, and it certainly did so here, after both a mission in Xanadu, and yet another indication of his apparent sexual tension with Yumi.

Ulrich pushed those last thoughts out of his mind. He had gotten to know Yumi better over the past month, and felt more comfortable being around her in situations that were not life-threatening. But he still felt awkward around her at times and was not a fan of whenever his companions would ever bring that up. He really couldn’t get why everyone seemed to enjoy grilling him over it. It was extremely annoying.

However annoying as it was however, it was certainly preferable to…other forms of scolding.

It was then that when those memories surfaced, that Ulrich Stern resumed his beating of the punching bag. 

He’d show the man in the beige suit what he could do yet.

* * *

Yumi returned to her dorm room, locking the door as she sat down on the floor to perform her own meditation session. Focusing her energy, Yumi felt the object floating in her mind. She looked and saw her Totoro plushie floating in front of her, along with an assortment of books and pencils, as well as her bag. Sighing, Yumi eased the objects onto the ground, placing them where they had been before.

Her dorm room was different from the room that she had been used to at home. For one, it was smaller, and was thus more crowded than her fairly spacious room back home. In addition, she had to get used to sleeping on a bed that was placed much higher than the one she had at home, not to mention how the crowded nature of the shower rooms meant that the privacy that Yumi had so cherished was at a minimum in the mornings.

Getting up from her seated position, Yumi looked out the window, seeing the afternoon sun hang in the sky. Looking down, she soon remembered Amare’s little snide comment, and punched the wall in annoyance. If there was one thing Yumi hated, it was giving out details of her personal life. She was fine with using her past experiences when it came to giving advice to others, but being egged on about it, even if it was something, relatively simpler like her attraction to Ulrich…that was not something she enjoyed.

It was then that her thoughts turned to her family, and thus, the reason she was here in a dorm rather than living with her parents at home…

Her father was a technician at Deckard Inc., hence why the Ishiyamas had moved away from France when Yumi was 6 and her little brother Hiroki was 3. To say that the transitional period had been…difficult, was an enormous understatement. Her father was constantly being moved around due to his occupation, and thus, Yumi’s family had moved all over France.

Most people would’ve been envious of someone who had been in so many cities in such a country…but with how her former peers had treated her, Yumi had nothing but contempt for her circumstances. Such contempt was even easier to generate…once she learned what certain people had done to Hiroki…

Shuddering, Yumi tried to shove the violent memories out of her head. A futile effort, as she remembered how she had screamed in rage, seeing what they had done to her brother and the one person, Johnny, who had befriended the youngster. She remembered how she had beaten down the people responsible…and of course, the numerous piles of paperwork that had to be done as the law waged its unfair hammer on herself and her family.

On the plus side, it had given her father the motivation to finally decide on a permanent residence for his family.

On the down side, said residence was quite away and the resulting conundrum and aftermath had caused her parents to decide to send their daughter to a private school. With funds being a tad tight in that department, they were not able to afford Yumi transferring in and out. This next school would end up being her last chance. The person who had recommended Kadic had done so based on studies concerning their treatment of minorities, which strengthened the decision. It also helped that he was a friend to her father.

Yumi was glad that the treatment she received at Kadic was infinitely better than what she had gotten before. It felt nice to have friends outside of her family for once…

A ringing buzzed throughout the room, jolting Yumi out of her thoughts. Realizing that it was her cell phone, Yumi pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the ID.

It was her mom, Akio.

Quickly, Yumi answered the phone.

“Mom?” she asked in Japanese.

_ “Hello Yumi.” _ Her mother replied.  _ “How are things at Kadic?” _

“They’re…fine.” Yumi answered after a pause.

_ “…Is there something wrong Yumi? Any problems?” _ Akio asked, trepidation quite evident in her tone.

“What? No, no, I was just thinking about…someone.” Yumi replied hurriedly. She’d sworn to never let her parents know about Xanadu, and was glad for the long-distance making it easier. 

She didn’t know what she’d do if that distance didn’t exist.

_ “If it’s about Hiroki…that’s why I’ve called. The doctors are continuing to look after him. He’s able to talk again…but not for very long before he has to resume treatment.” _ Akio answered quietly.

“Th-that’s great mom!” Yumi answered.

_ “I just wanted to let you know. T-the miracles of modern medicine!” _ Akio answered with forced excitement.  _ “They say that if it had happened seven years earlier…well…he…No, no, let’s…not think about that. I…I hope you’re still enjoying yourself Yumi.” _

“I am, thanks.” Yumi replied.

_ “I’ll talk to you later. Good luck sweetheart.” _ Akio said, hanging up.

“Good luck huh?” Yumi asked herself as she laid down on her bed.

She would need luck, wouldn’t she? Luck that would keep Xanadu from causing further damage. Luck that would enable her to keep this awful secret…

Luck that might allow her to use this power to heal her brother.

Sighing, Yumi picked up a book and started reading, trying to take the opportunity to wind down. It was Sunday after all. Monday was right around the corner.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by without incident. Jeremie managed to get into his computer lab before Odd and Sebastian reached the underpass, and by the time the two had left, they hadn’t even known or noticed that Jeremie was there…though both of them, hearing Ulrich’s grunts and shouts as he practiced, stayed away from him to avoid getting injured and had other things to focus on anyways.

Milly and Tamiya remained holed up in the media room to prepare the  _ Kadic News _ for the entire day, silently focusing on their work. 

Hugo finally started calming down as he continued to practice with Amare.

Ulrich kept up his training until dinner, while Yumi concerned herself with reviewing her weekend homework.

In the end, everyone met at the cafeteria for dinner. It was then there that they learned of the eating habits of their new associate.

“…How can someone eat that much meatballs and gravy?” Sebastian asked incredulously, looking at Odd scarf down his food.

“It’s like watching a black hole in science class…” Hugo muttered.

“He can have this stuff, I hate it when Rosa serves this gunk.” Amare complained, slipping his tray’s contents onto Odd’s.

“Well, at least we know what to expect at meal-time then.” Jeremie tried, in an effort to keep the peace.

“At least it’s not getting on me.” Ulrich shrugged.

“You can say that again.” Yumi replied.

“No.” Ulrich deadpanned, which made Yumi raise an eyebrow.

Whether it was because she found it funny or because she agreed with him would remain a mystery for the rest of the night.

“What’s the big problem? It’s dinnertime!” Odd said, giving off a big smile and revealing the food stuck in his teeth.

Sebastian’s face was one of abject horror and disgust. “My eyes…”

“You guys have no sense of humor.” Odd commented.

“Tomorrow is Monday. No one has a sense of humor the night before Monday.” Hugo replied.

“…And there goes my good mood.” Odd groaned as he ate at a slower pace.

Dinner was a subdued affair from that point onwards. No fuss was made, no more comments were said, and for now, the questioning of Xanadu had stopped.

That wasn’t to say that the day had yet to end. It seemed that the entire universe was out for Ulrich as he was forced to deal with the difficulties of having an annoying roommate as the two prepared for bed. 

“ARGH!” Ulrich cried out as if he had been shot.

“Something wrong?” Odd asked innocently.

“Your feet…what is wrong with them?” Ulrich groaned, waving his hand in front of his nose.

“What? My feet tend to sweat a lot.” Odd replied in an unabashed tone of voice.

“Last I checked, the stench of sweat didn’t equal the stench of manure.” Ulrich groaned as he ducked under the covers to protect his nose.

“One of the perks with bunking with me I’m afraid.” Odd chuckled.

Ulrich moaned as he tried to get to sleep. Odd shrugged, patted his dog on the head, and drifted off to dreamland…

* * *

_ If he didn’t know any better, he’d say it was nightfall, but no, he did know better. It had been afternoon earlier, but what had happened just moments ago resulted in the sky turning pitch-black, cloaked in the darkness from where the island sprung forth. Strangely enough, everything in front of him had turned black-and-white, not unlike an old movie…even though he knew that this was not a side-effect of the catastrophe unfolding before him and his companions. _

_ The island hung over the city, exuding a black liquid that flooded the streets, consuming everything in its path and then either altering or completely assimilating any object caught up in the deadly flow. One noticeable effect of the black essence was that it caused massive cables, not unlike the ones that supported the island, to sprout from the buildings of the city, which were turning into simple, rectangular, black structures devoid of any other details aside from glowing lines that ran down their sides. The cables plugged into either the other buildings or the ground, causing either more cables to be created, or more black structures to erupt from the ground and continue the process. _

_ If he turned his head upwards, from where he was right now, he could just make out the individual up on the highest tower, hands radiating with energy, looking down upon him and his companions. The person’s eyes glowed ominously, lightning flashing behind them. He could make out the silhouette of a sorcerer-like being, crowned with a headpiece fitting one who ruled over an alien world. _

_ He knew who it was. He and his companions had fought that person before after all. He knew what would happen if they did not win, if they did not make up for the defeats that they had been handed which had caused the current crisis. _

_ Wait…how could Odd know who or what that was? What WAS happening right now? Why was the city in the midst of an apocalypse? _

_ But before he could get an answer, the image shifted. Now Odd found himself floating in outer space, naked for some reason…with Kiwi on his lap gently snoring. And before he could get his grip on THAT situation, the scene changed again, this time to Odd finding himself lying down on the beach…as if the dark scene from before had never unfolded in the first place. He felt himself calm down…and relaxed into further slumber… _

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you cannot guess who the figure above is, you are NOT a Code Lyoko fan, just saying.
> 
> Leave a comment if you are able! I do wish to see speculation about this sort of thing, after all!


	5. Settling into a Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odd begins settling into life at Kadic Academy, but soon finds more trouble than he bargained for when a certain power begins to get out of hand...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this edit went by quicker than I thought it would. Either that or I got too lazy...ugh...
> 
> But here is the second and final part of File 4! Enjoy!

_Garage Kids_

File 4.2 – Settling into a Routine

_The island hung over the city._

_The streets were flooded with darkness…_

_An enigmatic figure covered in shadows towered before the samurai, geisha, and Cheshire cat, hands alight with energy._

_A buzzing noise not unlike music filled the air, and did not seem to stop, despite no matter how hard he tried to block it out._

_Wait a minute… Buzzing? Music? What the hell was going on?_

Odd's eyes shot open, and he turned his head around his bed in confusion. The early morning rays of sunlight had started to filter through the window, and as Odd blinked and became more aware, realized that it had been the electronic alarm clock that was the source of the buzzing. The music was familiar, and Odd recognized that it was from the Subdigitals, a band originating from Boulogne Billancourt.

Odd also realized that if the alarm clock was on, then that meant that it was time for him to wake up, and start his first classes at Kadic Academy.

Groaning as the electronic alarm clock continued blearing out "Break Away", Odd let loose a wide yawn, before looking down at Kiwi, who was sleeping on his own dog bed at the foot of Odd's. Odd managed a tired smile as Kiwi continued to sleep like well, a dog. Odd rubbed his head, thinking back to the strange dream he had earlier.

'Huh, that was weird. Eh, it was just a dream. Dreams are always weird.' He thought to himself, shoving the details of the dream out of his head. After all, what were the chances that it was important?

…It was then that Odd remembered that he now had Precognition powers, but he shoved those thoughts to the back of his head. No need to dwell on that now.

Across from Odd's bed, Ulrich woke up, groaning in annoyance as he rubbed his eyes, but as he rose from his bed, Ulrich started gagging. Opening his eyes fully and sniffing the air, Ulrich remembered why he was gagging in the first place. In the span of a second, Ulrich quickly jumped up from his bed, grabbed his toothbrush and towel, and sped out the door.

"Odd, next time, warn me that your feet smell worse than the town garbage dump!" the samurai yelled as he walked down the hallway at normal speed.

"I would've, but I thought you knew what you were signing up for!" Odd called out as he got up from his bed.

Meanwhile, as Ulrich walked down the hallway, he began realizing what he would need to do to adjust to his new associate. "Ugh…I need to find a nose plug AND a pair of earplugs." He groaned to himself.

As Odd stretched his arms, a quick vision of Ulrich walking down the hallway flashed before him. Odd was able to hear Ulrich's wanting a nose plug and earplugs before the vision faded. Quickly, Odd blinked, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Another vision?" he mumbled before shrugging it off. "Huh...didn't expect one so soon."

Odd grabbed his own towel and toothbrush and made his way down to the washrooms. Whistling a jaunty tune, Odd opened the door… only to instinctively stop mid-entrance and look around for bars of soap strategically planted on the floor, flying bras, or worst of all, the classic wet towel whip…much to the bewilderment of some of the boys, all of whom were either brushing their teeth calmly or taking a shower to shrug off the Monday morning exhaustion.

"Della Robbia, why're you walking around this place like it's a war zone?" Sebastian deadpanned, wearing nothing but his boxers as he spat out water into the sinks.

"Eh… oh, it's a habit from home!" Odd explained, sheepishly rubbing his free hand behind his head.

"I can relate to that." Hugo replied dryly, sparing a look at Charlie, who looked up at his older brother innocently as he continued to brush his teeth.

What little conversation there was to be had soon faded as the melancholy of Monday morning sank in. Odd showered and brushed his teeth, nothing really exciting to note there, and was exiting the bathroom, when…

" _Belpois! GET OUT OF BED THIS INSTANT!"_ _The voice of Jim roared at Jeremie, who had fallen asleep at his computer._

Odd blinked and turned around, looking to see if Ulrich was still in the bathroom. He wasn't, but Sebastian still was, having elected to brush his teeth first and then shower, and he was not pleased to see Odd halt like a car in the middle of traffic.

"Now what's going on?!" Sebastian barked, "I'd like to _exit_ the bathroom Della Robbia, not hang around the morning sausage fest!"

"Oh, uh…hey, do you guys know where Ulrich went?" Odd asked awkwardly.

"Probably back to his room, he's gotten pretty fast recently." Amare, who had arrived late, replied casually. "Not like Jeremie, he's as late as ever."

"The pot calls the kettle black, uh, no pun intended." Sebastian commented, to which Amare responded with a nonchalant shrug.

"Which means that I should get him, or..." Odd began, only for Sebastian to cut in.

"Or Jim gets his hands on Belpois and wrings his scrawny chicken-neck. Now, can you go save Belpois from our gym teacher's wrath? Or do I have to stand here all day, Della Robbia?"

"Going to get Einstein now!" Odd replied, rushing out of the bathroom.

Sebastian just rolled his eyes.

Anyone unfamiliar with the dorms room hallways would've gotten lost normally, but as Odd wandered the hallways, flashes of orange and brown danced around his eyes as his Anticipation power continued to activate, guiding him to where Jeremie's room was, telling him which route to use so that he could get there before Jim showed up. Odd should've just asked Ulrich to do it, but since the speedster had flashed out of the bathroom, and the other kids were still very suspicious of the events surrounding Xanadu, instinct told him to do the job of retrieving Jeremie by himself. That being said, though, the constant visions were starting to make Odd feel dizzy.

Yet, just as he felt that he was about to throw up, Odd found that he had reached his destination. Standing up straight and shaking his body to steady himself, Odd pounded on the door to Jeremie's room.

"Oi! Einstein! Wake up!"

A crash was heard inside the room, and Odd heard groaning. The groaning grew louder as Odd could hear also equipment and books crash throughout the room as Jeremie got closer to the door. Opening it, he found Odd standing in front of him. Unlike the other kids, Jeremie was not wearing any semblance of pajamas, remaining in his day clothes. Imprints of the bespectacled boy's keyboard were very apparent on his forehead as he looked at Odd tiredly.

"What? What is it?" Jeremie yawned.

"Well, I had a vision of that Jim guy coming in here and chewing you out, and Ulrich was out of the bathroom, so, I figured I might as well warn you." Odd said.

Just as Odd finished explaining himself, right on cue, Jim appeared on the scene, coming up right behind the spiky-haired boy.

"Belpois! Why aren't you in the showers yet?! It's important that every student lather, rinse, and repeat in the morning and night!" the large man boomed.

"I'm heading there right now Jim." Jeremie said, stifling another yawn.

"Well, arlight then! Be glad I didn't find you still sleeping, Belpois. If you were, I'd have to give you a lesson about what happens to people who sleep on the job! Like say, four hours of detention!" Jim said.

"Four hours?" Odd gasped. "Isn't that a bit much?"

Jim scoffed in disgust. "It's a perfectly reasonable punishment! I've seen the consequences of sleeping in before! I remember back when I was helping to stop a poacher named Pedro, one of the most dangerous Peruvian criminals of all time! We nearly lost him, but then we got lucky! I caught him because one of his men slept on the job!"

Odd was puzzled. "Wait, why were you stopping a South American poacher? And what does that have to do with sleeping in?"

"Well, it's an incredible tale of friendship, adventure, and somewhat wholesome life lessons…but I've got to continue making sure that we don't have anyone sleeping in on a Monday, so I'd rather not talk about it." Jim answered quickly. "Now, get yourselves down to the cafeteria! The day is young!"

And with that, Jim left.

Silence filled the room, which was broken as Jeremie let out another yawn. He turned around, and looked at his computer. Then, as if he had been struck by lightning, Odd watched Jeremie tense up, his eyes brightening with either inspiration, madness, or a combination of both (And considering what little Odd knew of Jeremie, he figured it was the third option, to be on the safe side), and rush over to his computer, typing in new code and clicking the enter key. Just as Odd turned around, hearing his stomach grumble for breakfast, he heard Jeremie holler and turned around to see the computer whiz jump with joy.

"YES! It works! It works!" Jeremie cheered.

"Um…what did you just do that worked?" Odd asked.

"Oh yeah! I need to tell you about a program I've been fixing up." Jeremie noted.

"The one that makes me look like a cat-man?"

"No, not the avatar program, that's working just fine, I meant the Super-scan."

"Super-scan?" Odd questioned. "What's that? A scan that's super?"

"Sort of!" Jeremie replied, seemingly oblivious to Odd's sarcasm and lack of knowledge on the subject. "The super-scan is a program that detects if a tower has been infected with specters or not. It helps warn us if we're dealing with a disturbance from Xanadu."

"Oh, that's nice…" Odd yawned, but then he blinked in confusion. "Wait…if you had a warning system, how come it wasn't working yesterday? Or the day this whole mess started?"

Jeremie was tidying up his desk as he answered. "Well, back when Xanadu was starting up, I didn't have a tower detection program available to me until I downloaded information from the supercomputer into my own devices. As to why it wasn't working when you arrived at Kadic yesterday, I checked up on the program while you and Sebastian were having your movie talk." He then gestured to his computer, which Odd noticed had turned itself back on from sleep-mode. "The scan was bugged up, which corrupted my firewall and let the specters use my computer as an outlet. I spent the whole night fixing the bug and making sure that it doesn't happen again. Unfortunately, that required a lot of work…turns out the specters crashing into the towers has a detrimental effect on the program's integrity. I had to rewrite everything from scratch! I also took the opportunity to upgrade the scan, so now it can automatically tell us if a tower's been activated, instead of waiting for the Specters to settle in!"

"I, guess that makes sense." Odd replied, mind swimming as he tried to digest the information on an empty stomach. He had a bad feeling that this sort of explanation towards everything Xanadu-related was going to become routine.

Now that Jeremie was up and about, Odd went back to his room, where Kiwi continued to sleep like, well, a dog. Odd noticed that Ulrich had already left, and got dressed. Once that was done Odd went down straight to the cafeteria, got his meal (consisting of three croissants, two bananas, hot chocolate, and a bowl of dipping milk with cocoa powder), and quickly started chowing down…his speed astounding Yumi, while Ulrich could've cared less.

"How can you eat that much?" Yumi asked, still having not gotten over seeing Odd's habits at dinner last night.

"It's breakfast, the most important meal of the day!" Odd protested, his mouth stuffed with croissant and banana, "a guy has to eat a lot to get ready!"

Yumi looked down at her tray, which simply consisted of a single croissant, an orange, and a dipping milk bowl.

"I'll…take your word for it." Yumi said, her mind drifting. "Now I wonder whose eating habits are worse, yours or Jeremie's."

"He barely eats anything to begin with." Ulrich noted, turning his head around to see Jeremie at the end of the lunch line, who was not really taking note of what was left of the available food.

"Ain't that the truth." An eavesdropping Amare chuckled as he passed by their table and sat down at his usual place.

"It's a big day for me, you know, new kid, trying to get used to his new life. You can't blame me for eating this much." Odd said as he stuffed a second banana into his mouth.

"Yeah…I get the feeling that that excuse is going wear thin REALLY fast." Yumi commented.

Odd chuckled, swallowing his food. "I'm a glutton, what can I say?"

"Nothing, preferably." Ulrich grunted, munching on his own croissant.

Odd shrugged. Breakfast was the priority right now, and he resumed scarfing down. After a few minutes, by which time Odd had nearly consumed everything on his plate, Jeremie sat down calmly, seemingly not bothered by the mess that was Odd's face.

"So, Odd, what's your schedule like?" Jeremie asked politely, sipping his hot chocolate.

"Itsehuh, le'mm sh'ee…" Odd said with his mouth full, straining to remember.

"Ugh…Odd, your face…your mouth." Yumi groaned in disgust, pointing at her face to indicate that Odd was a mess.

Odd blinked, swallowed, and quickly wiped his face. He took a deep breath as he tried to remember.

"Last I checked, it was Science with Susanne Hertz first period, then gym class with well…Jim for second period, after that it's uh, trying to remember, oh yeah, Math with Brigitte Meyer, History with Giles Fumet, Lunch, Music with Marco Mirti, English with Rachel Kensington, Art with Mr. Chardin, and finally, Italian with Angelo Caggia. After that, dinnertime. Why do you need to know that?"

Yumi coughed briefly, causing Odd to realize the idiocy of his question. The others were trying to figure out how to fit his schedule into the 'Saving the World from an evil computer virus' mission.

"N-never mind." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Let's see, our schedules don't completely synch up together…" Jeremie murmured thoughtfully. "We do share Science, Gym, History, Art, and Italian…at least on my end."

"I don't see you for two classes." Ulrich informed Odd. "Music and Italian."

"Four for me." Yumi replied. "Gym, History, Music, and English."

"Oh, we'll also need your contact information." Jeremie said, pulling out his cell phone, prompting the others to do the same. The group quickly exchanged numbers.

"Well…anything else you guys need me to do right now?" Odd asked. "I'm in need of seconds, so I'm going to go see if there's anything left."

"…You still want seconds after eating that much?" Yumi asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Odd replied, walking over to the line. "I can't skip out on a meal!"

Ulrich raised an eyebrow stoically, before sighing in resignation. He supposed that there were stranger and worse people in the world. "You go do that." He deadpanned.

Odd whistled a jaunty tune as he prepared to re-enter the line, only for his sight to turn orange, and a disorientating feeling, as if he was falling to the ground, flashed before his eyes. Odd blinked and paused, looking around the room, only to see that someone had spilled their milk and a banana peel on the floor. Odd wisely scooted around the spill and proceeded on his way.

'Well, that was convenient.' Odd thought to himself as he ordered his second helping.

And yet, he still felt a bit more disoriented than he had earlier that morning…and a nagging worry began to build in the back of Odd's head.

* * *

Classes were normal, to Odd's surprise. For a moment the nagging worry that he had that something along the lines of 'Wacky Hijinks' might ensue remained…but nothing of the sort happened. For now, it seemed that his Anticipation power would remain in check. At least, in general. It _did_ activate at times that caught him off-guard, but the events being predicted were, for the most part, mundane, and so he was able to shrug them off. Of course, the dizziness that followed had gotten him in trouble from Jim during second period, but considering the man's teaching methods, Odd had not been the only one on the receiving end of Jim's rants that day and so he wrote off as nothing to worry about.

Speaking of which, Odd was able to form a decent first impression of his other teachers up 'till lunchtime. Honestly, most of them weren't exactly stand-outs besides Jim and Mrs. Hertz. She displayed a sort of passion for her subject matter not too dissimilar to Jeremie (Which probably explained why she called on him most of the time, to Odd's relief, because he was equally clueless concerning Photosynthesis as he was with Jeremie's Technobabble), but Mr. Fumet and Mrs. Meyer didn't really stand out, aside from both being rather dry and strict, with Mr. Fumet being more on the 'dry' side of things, and Mrs. Meyer on the 'strict' side.

But overall, classes were…normal. Nothing really bad…aside from the homework load. But still…normal. As if there wasn't the overhanging threat of demonic artificial intelligences from an unstable virtual world, and whatever other dangers had been rambled at Odd during his first day.

_Kiwi let out a small doggy yawn…and then realized that he was in desperate need of relieving himself and to stretch his legs. He needed to go out…but where was his owner? Where was Odd? The little mutt began howling and running around…he really needed to go…_

Odd's eyes snapped open and as he left Mr. Fumet's class he searched for Ulrich, and immediately ran over to him.

"Ulrich! I need you go on ahead of me!" Odd said desperately.

"…Why?" Ulrich asked.

"Kiwi's awake and he needs to go! I just saw him! I know what's going to happen if he's cooped up in there for too long! He's…" Odd began, but before he finished, Ulrich had turned around a corner and vanished.

Odd gave a panicked yelp, and ran towards his room. He needed to get to Kiwi and fast. He couldn't let his dog do his business in Ulrich's room! That'd get him sent back home for sure! His vision blurred and turned orange as he ran through hallways and up the stairs. His surroundings seemed to jump in front of him at every corner. He thought he ran into a wall, but in reality, Odd was still in the middle of a hallway. He thought he saw Jim yelling at him not to run…but when he opened his eyes, he instead found himself in front of his room, or was it Jeremie's room? Wait, why was he in the bathroom? Why was a stranger coming near Kiwi? Why? What? Who? Where? Huh?

"AGH!"

Odd groaned as he found himself at the bottom of the stairwell leading to the dorms, having tripped over the very first step.

"What the hell was that?" he groaned, closing his eyes in pain.

"RUFF! RUFF!"

Odd opened his eyes to see Kiwi right up in his face, licking him all over. "Agh! All right, all right Kiwi, I'm here, I'm here!"

Ulrich walked down the stairs, eyebrows raised at the scene before him

"You okay?" he asked.

"Ugh…yeah, I guess." Odd said, rubbing his elbows. The impact didn't hurt as much as he had expected to, but it still smarted.

"Um…are you alright?" a small, female voice asked. Odd looked up to see Milly and Tamiya walking towards him, the former carrying a notepad and pencil, and the latter holding a video camera.

"What? Me? Oh yeah! I'm fine! 100% ready and waiting!" Odd replied with a forced smile, standing up quickly to Kiwi's excitement.

"Really? Because it looked more like you were either drunk, on drugs, or having a mental breakdown." Tamiya deadpanned.

"Wait, what?" Odd asked, smile feeling more brittle.

"Here," Tamiya replied, showing Odd the camcorder.

Odd looked at the footage, and his jaw fell to the ground as he saw himself running through the hallways like a jackass. It looked like he was having a seizure or some kind of psychosis episode as he ran through the hallways as if he had gone blind and insane at the same time. Odd watched in dread as he made a fool of himself in front of several classmates, whose snickers and gossip were _very_ evident in the video recorder, which of course had sound enabled. Odd's heart sank as he saw numerous attractive girls in the video have looks on their faces that ranged from disgust to bewilderment to laughing sadism. Well, that just sank numerous, if not all, of his dating opportunities, joy.

"So…do you mind telling us what happened for the _Kadic News_?" Milly asked, very eager to write about the school suddenly having an apparent lunatic.

"Wait, what? N-no!" Odd stammered "I just panicked about leaving my dog alone in his room! That's it!"

"Are you suuuuure?" Milly droned, eyes bright in anticipation of a scoop.

"Milly, leave the new guy alone." Yumi deadpanned, walking up to the group. "If someone doesn't want to be interviewed, you should respect their privacy."

"But…" Milly tried, only for Kiwi to begin growling at the young girl. He could sense that she was trouble to his owner. Milly wasn't about to be scared by a small mutt and opened her mouth to try another retort…only to be subjected by a hard glare from Ulrich, which was magnitudes more frightening.

Tamiya sighed and shut off the camera. "Come on, Milly, we'll find something else to write about. Besides, I need to replace the SD card."

Milly pouted as Tamiya led her friend up the stairs. Ulrich watched as the two sank out of sight, while Yumi looked at Odd as if the boy's cat-ears had suddenly become part of his real-world self.

"…So…what WAS that all about?" Yumi asked Odd.

" _Are you sure they can't see us from here?! Ulrich's looking at us like a hawk!" Milly whispered._

" _Positive," Tamiya whispered back, "we'll figure out what's going on in no time!"_

"Can we talk on the way to the lunchroom?" Odd asked in a voice that was louder than what was considered normal, "I don't think we want Kiwi going Number 1 or 2 on the floor."

"Gross!" Milly gagged from above.

"Milly!" Tamiya hissed in alarm.

"Really, you two?" Yumi called upwards, shaking her head. "Give the guy some space!"

The point was accentuated by the sound of Ulrich cracking his knuckles, causing both girls to squeak in panic as the three Xanadu Warriors left for the courtyard. Once they were sure that they were in the clear, Yumi asked Odd about what had happened once again, to which Odd responded with:

"Well…I think my Future Flash is getting out of hand."

Yumi raised an eyebrow, while Ulrich remained stone-faced. "Wait, so, you can't control it?"

"For some reason ever since I got the damn power, I can't!" Odd groaned. "It wasn't so bad when I first joined up and after we got out of Xanadu yesterday, but ever since this morning it's been activating at random all the time! I just got hit with like…I don't know, twenty different visions at the same time, and I don't know why!"

"Is that why you went running down the halls like that?" Yumi asked.

"I…guess, I mean, I just didn't want Kiwi getting out of hand! That'd put him on a one-way trip back to Palermo! I panicked, and then…boom!" Odd replied. "Speaking of Kiwi, please tell me nothing bad happened!"

"I opened the door and he just ran out of the room." Ulrich revealed with a shrug. "I did see him coming a bit too close to my bed though." Ulrich took a look at the little dog, who had run over to a tree to relieve himself, and was endlessly thankful for Super-Sprint. Otherwise, he would've had to sleep on wet bedsheets tonight, just yet another downside to having a roommate.

"Phew." Odd breathed in relief, only to realize something.

"Wait…how come the paparazzi didn't see _you_ zooming away?"

"Again, there's the less-crowded hallways and sneak-in routes. Not a lot of people use them when classes get out and the main hallways get congested," Ulrich replied, "it's sort of a crowd mentality that I don't like dealing with it."

"But still…those rampant visions could be a problem." Yumi mused. "Ulrich and I never have had that kind of control issue with our powers. They come to us pretty naturally."

"Which is all great for you two, but not much help for me! And now the whole school's going to think I'm some kind of crazy person! All of my wit and charm's been flushed down the toilet because of this!"

"…AKA your dating plans?" Ulrich deadpanned.

"YES!" Odd groaned. "They've all been kiboshed! Torn apart! Gone totally white! Please tell me Einstein has the answer to this mess!"

"We'll see…" Yumi replied, not sure how to deal with this current conundrum.

"That's really reassuring." Odd grumbled.

After Kiwi had finished his walk, Ulrich and Yumi left for the cafeteria and Odd took him back to the dorms, whereupon the little dog went back to sleeping. Unfortunately, the cafeteria was crowded by the time Odd got there, and with the other children keeping a very close eye on Odd as if he'd grown a second head, there was no way he could pose any questions to Jeremie, so he just focused on eating. Odd tried glaring at the hecklers, but that accomplished squat, much to his dismay. At the very least, it seemed that Ulrich's Death Glare was intimidating enough that things didn't get physical, but Odd could still hear the whispering of gossip and mocking laughter echo throughout the lunchroom.

Odd could not believe that, for once, he would be GLAD to go class. That would never have happened back home.

He could still hear occasional snickering, but Mr. Mirti ordered everyone to shut up and listen to his flute playing. Odd was glad to have attention get diverted from him for once, yet another change he'd have to get used to at Kadic. But not everyone was focused on the music teacher. Odd noticed how Hugo seemed to stare at him, and remembered Jeremie's warnings about the cap-adorned boy. Great. Odd was familiar enough with classroom gossip patterns to know that within a week, some other schmuck would screw up and become the new talk of the school, but that meant nothing to an overprotective big brother who was hot on Odd's trail.

English was unremarkable, aside from occasional flashes of Mrs. Kensington's readings giving Odd an auditory sense of Déjà vu.

Now, however, was the class that Odd was actually looking forward to: Art. He had already met Mr. Chardin yesterday, and the man was notably supportive of Odd's artistic preferences, while Sebastian still had a passive-aggressive view about Odd's philosophical intentions. The old man had informed Odd about a project that he was going to reveal to the class on Monday…but refused to elaborate.

Once everyone had taken a seat, Odd noticed that Sebastian was seated one desk behind him. Well…that was either coincidence or deliberate, though since Kadic didn't seem to enforce assigned seating, it was probably the latter. Odd didn't have much time to prepare though, as Chardin began to speak.

"Now then, class, I would like to inform you that the time has begun for the semester project. You will have up until the end of the week to submit to me what your subject medium will be. I have a basic set of guidelines for you all to follow depending on the category that you select." Chardin then switched to a new PowerPoint slide displaying the types of art projects that were allowed to be submitted.

Odd looked at one of the projects, and his eyes lit up once he saw the category of 'Animation'.

"This project will be worth 25% of your final grade, by the way." Chardin put in, much to the collective groans among the class.

"Animation, eh…" Odd mumbled to himself.

"Now then, we will be continuing facial sketches today, as such…" Chardin explained, his lecture becoming white noise as the class began to draw.

Or, in Odd's case, tried to draw. Because of course Future Flash would activate in the one class that he actually liked. He couldn't stop the stream of visions that kept on popping up in his face. One moment he would see a blank piece of paper, and the next, a sketch in progress, before it returned to being blank. Odd rubbed his head trying to recover, but it was no use. His progress was being stymied, and he had only managed a bare rough by the time class was over, much to Chardin's disappointment.

"I expected more from you Mr. Della Robbia. I could tell from yesterday that you have just as much latent talent as Sebastian, and yet _this_ is what you submitted?"

"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again." Odd said sheepishly.

Sebastian looked over Odd's shoulder, and then at Odd himself. Perhaps he would not have to wait as long as he feared. Things were moving faster than he thought. Still though, the artist in him expressed bewilderment about how Della Robbia hadn't even finished a simple sketch, while the cautionary street wanderer added another oddity (Oh yay, ANOTHER pun for the day), to the mental list.

Italian was nothing worth worrying about. It was Odd's native tongue, and he sped through it with ease. At least there was one silver lining today. Even so, Odd exited the classroom as fast as his legs could carry him, sighing in defeat about the day's mess. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Jeremie looking at the day's homework assignment, a vocabulary worksheet.

"Hey, Odd, mind helping me out with this? Like I said yesterday, Italian's not my best subject. Can't even string two words together."

"Uh, sure…but uh…" Odd began, but Jeremie interrupted him.

"Great! Let's go!"

Odd watched as Jeremie walked into the courtyard. He really couldn't wrap his head around the guy…which was honestly saying a lot. Regardless, after a quick look around to make sure that Hugo and Sebastian (And/or the paparazzi) weren't around, Odd quickly followed Jeremie, who walked over to the center of the school's quadrangles. There, Odd could see Ulrich and Yumi next to a set of vending machines, the two looking around the courtyard like sentries. Ulrich nodded at Odd when he and Jeremie got there and tossed him a can of soda.

"So…" Jeremie said once the group had settled in. "I've heard something about Odd's powers getting out of control. Explain it to me."

"I've been receiving out-of-control visions all day and my most recent set just made me out to be some kind of crazy person!" Odd exclaimed. "Do you need more explaining than that?!"

"Just wanted to know exactly what's going on." Jeremie said, raising his hands calmly as he pushed his glasses into place.

Odd took an angry swig of soda, downing the can in one go. "Can you at least tell me why this is happening? Ulrich and Yumi don't have any problems with their powers…and for some reason, _I_ do! I'd like an explanation please, Einstein!"

Jeremie put his hand to his chin, deep in thought.

"Like I said before, the powers in Xanadu are derived from your subconscious like your avatar is, so-"

"Not important!" Odd cut in.

Jeremie raised a disapproving eyebrow. "It kind of is. The powers you get in Xanadu manifest from your subconscious, just like your avatar."

"So deep down I want to get slammed with constant visions like a crazy person?!" Odd wailed in disgust.

"No, no." Jeremie replied, remaining calm. "That being said, your power does work differently from Ulrich and Yumi's. Granted, that might be more because we have a small sample size, so-"

"I've got a simpler idea. Follow me." Yumi interrupted, knowing fully well that Jeremie was about to ramble instead of giving a succinct explanation.

Jeremie looked a bit miffed as his observations were cut off, but Ulrich seemed to have the same idea as Yumi did and walked after her to make it clear that the computer genius wasn't going to have a chance to interject any further.

"Come on, we're going to train. You're coming with us for sparring." Ulrich gestured to Odd, whose eyes widened.

"Um, wait, what? I don't-" Odd stammered, only to find himself walking forward against his will. Odd looked and saw Yumi focusing her gaze at him, and gulped.

"You can watch if you want to Jeremie." Yumi called out.

Jeremie rubbed his temples as he began to think of alternatives. "I'll pass. But…wait…yeah…okay…" he murmured, seeming to have an idea, "if you guys can record the whole thing and show it to me, I can explain this to Odd better."

"How?" Odd asked, bewildered by Jeremie's return to thought.

"Just come on." Ulrich said, "Don't have Yumi waste her energy."

"Alright, alright." Odd grumbled. "But you'd better be able to explain this, Einstein!"

"I should be able to!" Jeremie said earnestly.

"Wait, really?" Odd asked. "I would've thought that you weren't going to make any promises."

Jeremie rose an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I? I think I've got a good idea about what your problem might be, but some observational data would confirm it. Until then, good luck."

And before Odd could get anything else out of Jeremie, he felt the pull of Yumi's Telekinesis and watched as Jeremie slipped away. Sighing, Odd started walking under his own power. Of course, Jeremie's wishing of good luck put Odd on edge, and the same sense of danger that he had felt all day quickly started to return to him.

"Is this really necessary?" Odd gulped as he followed Ulrich and Yumi into the gymnasium.

"If we want to find a way for you to control your Anticipation power, what better way than by forcing you to think on your feet?" Yumi answered rhetorically, pulling out her cell phone and switching the video function on.

"Well yeah…but you two are the martial arts people!" Odd protested. "Plus, you guys have physical combat powers! Super Speed and Telekinesis!"

"Telekinesis is technically a psionic ability like Anticipation." Yumi pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but it's basically the Force! Mine is the kind of power you get in horror movies!" Odd continued to say.

"Two things," Ulrich said sharply, getting into a combat stance, "One, my power is called Super-Sprint. And two, stop whining and get into position."

"…If I said I'd look into a way to control my foot stench would you go easy on me?" Odd gulped.

"If we weren't dealing with a haunted computer, I'd say yes. But we are, so no." Ulrich replied, before thinking over what he had just said. "Then again, wouldn't mind if you did."

"Great…" Odd groaned.

Taking a deep breath, Odd tried to get into a combat stance. Screaming an exaggerated battle cry, Odd put himself in a stance that made him look like a tiger standing on its hind legs, ready to pounce…Is what would be said if Odd actually knew what he was doing. A trained individual might've been able to pull it off…but a neophyte who had never studied any form of martial arts would just look like an idiot. Odd of course, was a neophyte, and as a result, looked like a total dork in his 'stance'.

And thus, like most such idiots, Odd was helpless against someone who was training in combat, and before he knew it, Ulrich quickly swung his leg out before Odd could even attempt a reaction and sent the purple-shirted boy falling towards the floor.

"AHH!" Odd cried out in surprise as he fell.

Luckily, he never got a chance to meet the ground, as Yumi was already holding him in midair with a telekinetic grab.

"…I'm going to guess you didn't see that one coming?" Yumi asked.

"Uh…no." Odd gasped, stunned at the swiftness of Ulrich's attack. "C-can we go a little slower?" he asked, "I'm not used to fighting Bruce Lee."

"No." Ulrich deadpanned. "Get back into position."

Odd next attempted to copy Ulrich's stance, and once again, the world turned a deep orange as Ulrich attacked Odd with a flurry of punches. Odd blinked, and thought that he was ready for the attack…but just as everything went back to normal Odd found himself being pummeled regardless before he even had a chance to dodge!

"BLAGH! AGH! GAH!" He cried with each and every consecutive blow.

"You didn't see that one coming?" Ulrich asked as Odd lay on the floor coughing.

"I DID!" Odd gagged as he tried to recover his breath. "But you're too damn fast! I didn't even have a chance to dodge that! Did you just use Super Sprint on me?!"

"That's my normal speed." Ulrich deadpanned. "Try again."

"And get beaten to pulp a third time?!" Odd spluttered. "Hell no!"

Yumi sighed. "Ulrich, hold my phone, I'll see if I can get better results."

"Wait, better results?" Odd asked. "What do you mean…by…oh…"

Yumi levitated her phone over to Ulrich, who was watching the scene with a look that could've passed for intrigue. But for Odd, it was anything but intriguing as he saw what _else_ Yumi was levitating. Several small, black, marble-like spheres, which were orbiting around her left hand at an alarming speed and glowing blue. It was then that the world went orange, and everything around Odd spun as he tried to see where the attacks were coming from…to no avail. The marble things didn't hurt nearly as bad as Ulrich's fists…but they kept on hitting Odd at a far faster pace and didn't give him a chance to dodge or catch them. Odd tried to see where they would hit him…but for every marble he found, three others would catch him by surprise.

Odd opened his eyes and saw Yumi swing her arm, mentally commanding the orbs to attack. Odd desperately tried to remember what he had seen…Only for the vision to repeat itself, leaving Odd to lie down on the floor once again.

"Well…that didn't work." Yumi noted, to which Ulrich only gave a nod.

"Okay, screw this!" Odd yelled, getting up angrily, his patience completely lost. "I am NOT going to spend my evening getting beaten up by a martial artist and a bunch of marbles!"

"Prayer beads, actually." Yumi corrected, though this didn't diminish Odd's irritation in the slightest.

"Tomato, Toh-mato!" He growled. "I am NOT in the mood to get covered in bruises…and on a Monday no less!"

"We just got started!" Yumi protested, but Odd wasn't having any of it.

"Uh, uh, no way! You guys want me to able to help you out in Xanadu, that's fine, but I'm not going to get beaten to a pulp before I go there!"

And so Odd stormed out of the gymnasium, hands tucked angrily in his pockets, refusing to look back, leaving both Yumi and Ulrich alone.

"…That could've gone better." Ulrich grunted.

"You think?" Yumi asked as Ulrich handed her phone back to her. "At least we got some video footage. Hopefully when Jeremie explains it to him, he won't go off on a tangent. Again."

"I still can't tell if he was trying to explain that Superscan to us or was just rambling about how he thinks the Specters get made…"

Yumi nodded in agreement, arranging the prayer beads back onto their string.

* * *

Odd fumed as he went up to his and Ulrich's room, though the walk thankfully came with no visions. Was his reaction a bit over-the-top? Maybe, probably…but in the end, he was NOT built as a fighter. A runner and a dodger maybe, but not a fighter like Yumi and Ulrich were. He was not in the mood to get beaten up. As Odd pulled out a piece of paper and a graphite pencil, he continued to think back to Xanadu…and by extension the dream he had. That vague, strange dream that he couldn't fully remember…

For one, Odd was reminded of the video games he had played back home (And brought with him, because why not?), particularly the RPGs, where you had to level up your character as you progressed through. He mulled over how, considering that Xanadu was very much like a video game (Aside from the fact that if you died, it was for real), if Ulrich and Yumi were about, maybe Level 15, Odd was still just Level 1, or 2, at best. Perhaps that difference would've lit a fire under someone else and convince him or her to level-grind…but Odd had only needed to experience combat training from Yumi and Ulrich for just a few minutes to get the hell out of dodge. He'd wanted an answer to his rampant visions, not a beating from two people far more powerful than him (Or, continuing the video game analogy, people with a higher level than him).

For an example of such a vision, he kept trying to push out the ominous image that was now popping up. That strange…dark figure that kept appearing before him…

The key word being, of course, trying.

By the time Odd looked at his phone and saw that it was now dinnertime, he looked at his work…and saw that he had ended up sketching a vaguely humanoid mass of black cloth and strings caressed around a plethora of wires and cables of varying sizes. Odd blinked, took a second look at the picture, and tried to remember exactly _why_ he had drawn something so dark…but found no real memories, except for the vision, as if he had been subconsciously invoking the ominous figure's image.

Odd looked at the illustration he had made to air out his frustrations, perhaps a bit longer than he would have preferred, and immediately ran out of the room.

"Well…that was creepy." He muttered to himself.

When Odd got to the cafeteria, he saw that Ulrich and Yumi were standing there.

"What do you two want now?" Odd asked in an exasperated tone, clearly not in the mood to be attacked again.

"We sent the footage to Jeremie." Yumi explained. "He'll be giving you an explanation first thing tomorrow. And you're booked for another training session."

"NO." Odd spat in disgust.

"In Xanadu." Yumi clarified. "Jeremie has this idea that you'll feel more comfortable there, but he said that he'll explain more tomorrow evening."

"…How is a change scenery going to help me?!" Odd asked.

Yumi shrugged. "Again, you'll have to ask Jeremie."

It was then that Ulrich spoke up. "Also, if you want to sit by yourself, then you should know that Sebastian and Hugo aren't going to be leaving you alone."

Odd opened his mouth to retort, only for…

" _Alright Della Robbia, out with it." Sebastian ordered, having cornered Odd at his lone table. "What the hell's going on? Why were you spazzing out like one of those painted alley dance robots on drugs?"_

" _You're hiding something." Hugo threatened, adjusting his cap over his eyes and cracking his knuckles. "And if you think I'm just going to sit by and let it kill me and my brother, you've got another thing coming, bub."_

" _We can do this the easy way, or the hard way Della Robbia." Sebastian said. "Which would you prefer?"_

Odd groaned from having another vision, sweat dripping from his forehead. He took a deep breath as he steadied himself.

"…Ugh…fine…" Odd groaned. "Just keep them off my back please... I just want to go to bed now."

Ulrich and Yumi nodded in silence. True to their word, they kept an eye out for the prying eyes of Sebastian and Hugo, while Milly and Tamiya stared at them intently. That being said, there was one element missing from the dining table…Jeremie.

When Odd inquired as to where he was, Yumi replied, "Again, Jeremie's not big on eating whenever he starts working. I doubt that he'll be coming to dinner tonight."

A lightbulb went on in Odd's head. "Does that mean I can have his portion?"

Ulrich nodded, and Odd scampered into line, the thought of more food helping to brighten his mood a tad.

Sebastian looked at the transfer student with an expression that simply _screamed_ digust"…If he comes to movie night, he brings his own food." he told Yumi as Odd stood in line. "I'm not pulling extra money out of my pockets to fuel that black hole Della Robbia has for a stomach. Or four, if he's actually part cow."

Hugo grumbled, muttering a number of obscenities that tripped over each other to himself, prompting Amare to put a firm hand on his shoulder. Ulrich couldn't tell what Hugo was muttering, but the constant glares he was shooting at Sebastian, Yumi, Odd and himself gave Ulrich a good guess.

"We'll tell him that when he gets here." Yumi said.

Sebastian sighed, and went back to his own meal. Be patient. They'd slip up eventually.

The rest of the dinner passed by with no incident, thought Odd groaned at automatically being banned from eating food, a stance that Sebastian was firm on. Thankfully, the majority of the night passed by with no real issues, until…

Ulrich was just pulling out his new pair of earplugs and a noseplug, when he glanced at Odd's sketch and looked at it. Picking it up, Ulrich examined it closer…and felt a strange…pull towards it, though he didn't know why. Odd had just put on his pajamas and patted a still sleeping Kiwi down when he saw Ulrich's interest.

"You're looking at the thing I drew earlier?" Odd asked.

"Yeah." Ulrich nodded, being reminded of the forces of Xanadu. "What IS this thing? Some kind of big mega-specter?"

"I honestly have no clue what I was going for when I made that drawing. I…think I was channeling one of my dreams earlier…but I've got no clue. Really, was just scribbling stuff out to let out stress and...well, it ended up making THAT. Something similar happened in art class earlier…though this time I actually GOT a picture done."

Ulrich looked at the picture again, shrugged, and put it down on the desk, heading off to sleep, guarded from Odd's snoring and feet.

But as for Odd…

* * *

_Damn it, it was so difficult keeping track of just what there was to fight right now. It wasn't simple back then…but it was CAKE compared to…this. At least back then…they knew what they had to fight for. Now…they weren't so sure._

_Or, at least he wasn't so sure, since at this point it was likely that the darkness below them, above them, and what surrounded them had already achieved what it desired._

_He looked constantly for another attack, hearing the samurai and the geisha scream as they continued their assault. Not that it was doing much good. They were keeping her at bay…but slowly but surely, she advanced on them like a growing wildfire._

_He turned around, and saw the tentacles just in time. He timed his jumps, barely dodging them as they dug into the ground. Like he said, it was difficult keeping track of how she was attacking._

_Then he heard a roar, and saw a black beast covered in metal lunge at him, a blast being charged in its mouth, which looked like a strange combination of a beak and a dragon's maw. He quickly fired a volley of darts at its vulnerable point, and the monster screamed in agony as the blasts exploded in its mouth, destroying it._

_He got down briefly, just needing to catch his breath…when he looked up and saw the white gleam of the gigantic scythe coming down on him. He rolled out of the way just in time, and looked at the weapon's wielder with a hard glare. His eyes then widened with horror at what he saw, or rather…what he could NOT see._

… _Why the hell couldn't he make out her face? It was covered in pixels, and it seemed that her hair had turned to long tendrils of static! Why? He knew her name! He knew what she looked like! He knew who and what she was! That was-_

_Another swing of the scythe…and Odd found himself surrounded by dishes and dishes of meatballs and gravy yet again._

* * *

"Gah!" Odd cried, getting up with a shock, causing Kiwi to jump off the bed and bark at his owner angrily.

"Ugh…sorry Kiwi…" Odd yawned, juuust as the alarm clock went off again.

"Again, with that dream…" Odd said, but just like before, he couldn't remember any of it in detail. All he remembered was the figure he drew yesterday…but…different? Maybe?

Odd got out of bed, and saw that Ulrich was still sleeping.

"Guess that stuff did the trick for him." Odd sighed as he shook Ulrich awake.

"Wh-what?" Ulrich asked drowsily, taking out his ear-plugs.

"Time to get up again." Odd yawned.

Ulrich grunted, but just like yesterday, quickly sped out of the room…which again reminded Odd of how he had ended up with the power that was currently proving to be way more damn trouble than it was worth.

"Einstein said he had an answer. Hopefully I can understand it." Odd sighed to himself. "One day in and I'm already sick of all of this kind of routine!"

But Jeremie remained tight-lipped. During breakfast, he put a finger up to his lips and refused to answer Odd's questions. So did Yumi and Ulrich. Odd opened his mouth to protest, but…

" _Come on, I need answers now, Einstein!" Odd complained, a bit too loudly. "You know the second day's always the weird one!"_

" _And…what would that weird stuff needing an answer be, anyways?" Hugo asked, surprising Odd by showing up out of nowhere._

And so, Odd just satisfied himself by stuffing as much croissant bread into his mouth as possible. Damn it, why was it so much of a hassle to maintain a secret identity? Why?

Science went by okay…but it soon became clear that Odd would need help sooner rather than later once second period started up.

"Today, we will be practicing indoors!" Jim announced as everyone gathered. "Today's agenda after warm-ups is the wall!"

"The wall?" Odd whispered.

Ulrich nodded, gesturing over to the large rock wall at the end of the gymnasium.

"Oh… well that seems straightforward." Odd grinned, feeling that he was in his element.

But sadly, even after everything that had been thrown at him with the intensity of a machine gun, Odd Della Robbia had yet to truly learn the lesson of tempting fate.

Warm-ups went by with no problems…and so Odd thought for a moment that he wouldn't have to deal with the visions since mundane things had gone by with no problems. But as the class transitioned to the wall, Odd was one of the first people Jim called up.

"Della Robbia, front and center! You're first on the wall!" Jim ordered.

Odd nodded, stretched, and began to climb. At first, it went by well, with Odd using his natural flexibility from his svelte (NOT scrawny, like he always had to tell people) body to climb up the wall at a fast pace. Nothing was going wrong, the climb had no problems, and Odd felt like he was in his element. But it was not the climb that it happened…it was at the top.

Odd had just climbed over to announce his dominance to everyone else, when…

" _AHHHH!" he cried out in alarm, toppling over at the top, at an awkward angle._

"AHHH!" Odd cried out in alarm, trying to keep his balance at the top…but to no avail. He found himself toppling over at an awkward angle, heading straight for the mats!

Almost instinctively, Odd barely managed to correct the angle, and found himself landing on the ground on all fours like a cat.

Of course, said bestial position and the circumstances for it were…well…

"HAHAHAHAHA!" a majority of the class laughed, all of them still clearly remembering the mishap from yesterday and enjoying its sequel.

Odd's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he got up.

"What the heck was that about Della Robbia?" Jim asked. "What? Did you see a spider or something?"

"No." Odd grumbled as he sulked away.

The class was still giggling, but as Hugo was called up, Odd caught another suspicious glare being aimed at him from the boy. He sat down on the floor as Hugo began to climb the wall, only for Ulrich and Jeremie to scoot next to him.

"…Soo…" Jeremie began.

"It happened again." Odd grumbled through grit teeth.

"I thought so. Time to end this." Jeremie sighed.

"End what?" Odd asked.

"The school day. Give me until the end of class, and we'll be fixing your random vision quests!" Jeremie replied.

"…How?" Odd asked, only for Ulrich to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Ulrich deadpanned.

Now annoyance gave way to nervousness. And yet, for some reason, Odd _didn't_ have a vision related to whatever Jeremie was going to do. Of course, the one-time his power might end up being handy after it went wild it didn't activate! He looked for a sign of what Jeremie was planning…but only caught the bespectacled boy sneaking his phone out for a few seconds, before hastily putting it back before Jim's attention turned from Ulrich to him. There was nothing Odd could do now, but wait for class to end.

The bell rang, and gym ended, with Odd preparing to head over to his next class, when the sound of a muffled bang rang throughout the sports field.

"Look at that!" a voice called out.

Odd saw people leaving their classes gathering around the sight of escaping steam from a room next to the gymnasium.

The sports-field of Kadic, much like the cafeteria, was one of the few areas that had not been badly affected by the post-Billancourt Panic rebuilding, if at all. The basic configuration of the buildings surrounding it had remained the same, though the buildings themselves had been rebuilt into the new aesthetic. As such, the school's boiler room was still located next to the gymnasium, and it was from here that the blast had originated from.

Odd's heart began to race. Was it another specter attack? So soon? No, no, he wasn't ready for this. Not at all, and in fact…

Jeremie put a hand on Odd's shoulder. "I think that should do it."

Odd spun around and looked at Jeremie incredulously.

"What? Did you do that?" he asked.

"Yup." Jeremie nodded as Ulrich and Yumi followed up from behind.

"…Did you just bomb the school?" Odd asked in increasing dread.

"What? No!" Jeremie replied, shaking his hands. "See, while the school's databases are well-protected, the part running the infrastructure isn't. So, I put in a time-delayed program to increase the pressure in one of the boiler lines, and…well…boom."

"…You blew up a boiler…" Odd mumbled, too shocked to scream.

"A boiler _line_ to be precise, but yeah. That should put classes off for the day. Now come on, we're going to the factory!" Jeremie commanded.

"Wasn't that a little excessive?" Yumi asked as the group began to clear the field.

"Maybe, but hey, it worked!" Jeremie said.

Yumi shook her head, but didn't seem to have any further objections and so turned to Odd. "You have a skateboard, right? Grab it and come meet with us at the manhole."

"Uh, ma'am yes ma'am!" Odd said, saluting. He got the feeling that disobeying Yumi was a bad idea.

Odd's trip to the dorms went by smoothly and he quickly grabbed his board, but just before he left the room…

_Hugo stalked the dorms, heading for Ulrich's room. Whatever it was that was going on, it was clear that the new kid was the weak link. He'd get him to talk. After all, for once, the height difference WASN'T much of a factor this time. He was nearly there. Just a few more turns._

" _Why are we going over to Ulrich's room?" Charlie asked._

" _You'll see little bro, you'll see." Hugo replied._

Odd blinked. "Crap!"

He looked around, and saw Kiwi, who yawned as he saw his owner back early. Then, the sound of voices from down the hall.

"Why are going over to Ulrich's room?" Charlie asked.

"You'll see little bro, you'll see." Hugo replied.

They were getting close. Odd had to think fast. His eyes returned to Kiwi, and he quickly scooped him up and plopped him into the hallway. Kiwi barked indignantly about being moved from his bed…only for…

"It's the puppy!" Charlie's voice blurted out.

Kiwi barked in horror, and looked at his owner, as if to ask what the hell he was doing.

"C'mon, Kiwi!" Odd ordered quietly, pointing in the direction Hugo and Charlie were coming from.

Kiwi growled, but complied and ran off. He turned a corner, and sped down the hallway, right past Hugo and Charlie. Charlie's eyes widened with glee, and he ran after Kiwi…much to his older brother's annoyance.

"Puppy!" Charlie squealed as he chased Kiwi, who barked frantically.

"Damn it Charlie, now is not the time!" Hugo yelled as he ran after the two.

Sighing in relief about the coast clearing, Odd raced in the opposite direction to get out of the dorms. Before long, he had reached the sewers, where the others were waiting for him.

"Anything happen on your way here?" Yumi asked.

"I had to sic Kiwi on that Hugo guy. He's getting REALLY suspicious about all of this." Odd explained.

"He's becoming more troublesome than I thought…" Jeremie pondered before shaking his head. "We'll deal with that problem later. For now, let's get the more pressing one dealt with."

Ulrich and Yumi nodded, with Yumi levitating Odd's skateboard into the sewers. "Let's go." She said.

And so, the four slipped into the sewers, unseen. The trip to the factory was silent, but much faster than on Sunday. They climbed up the metal ladder, crossed the bridge, opened the doors, and walked into the lobby of the massive urban laboratory. Jeremie settled down onto his chair, typed in some code, and swiveled around to meet with the others' faces.

"Alright, now then, while I'll admit I was hoping for more footage concerning Odd's training session…it's still enough to confirm my hypothesis."

Odd glared at Jeremie, "Hypothesis?! This isn't a science experiment!"

"Like I told Ulrich and Yumi, we're basically dealing with one that went out of control, but I digress." Jeremie replied, unfazed by Odd's increasing irritation. "You see, as I said before, your avatar is based off of your subconscious, and as such, so are your powers. That being said, each person virtualized is likely to have subtle differences in their psychology when they're virtualized."

Odd stared. "How does THAT solve my problem?!"

"I'm getting to that." Jeremie said. "The powers in Xanadu all seem to have something of a psionic basis due to originating from the virtualized person's mind, though how physical it gets varies from person to person based on, again, the subtle differences in their psychologies."

"So, since Ulrich and I are fighters…" Yumi said.

"Your powers would be best suited to combat." Jeremie replied to her.

"…And mine?! What's that best suited for? Freaking me out?!" Odd cried in frustration.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it responds to your mental state…" Jeremie mused, causing Odd to glare at him. "But in order for me to better understand this, I'm going to want you to train with Ulrich and Yumi in Xanadu."

"What difference is that going to make?!" Odd spat.

"Being immersed there could prove useful in helping you regain control of your powers." Jeremie answered. "It wasn't until yesterday that you started having trouble after all. If we can figure out why that happened, I'm certain that we can get this under control."

"…Yay…" Odd muttered. "There's no other way, is there?"

"Well…" Jeremie began, but Ulrich and Yumi rolled their eyes and Ulrich dragged Odd up the stairs leading to the scanners before the conversation could continue.

"Let's go." Ulrich deadpanned.

Jeremie turned back to the interface and typed in the virtualization commands. The doors of the scanner shut, and the process began.

"Scanning, Ulrich, Scanning Yumi, Scanning Odd… **virtualization**."

Three pillars of light flashed within Xanadu, and when they faded, the three virtual warriors stood, as ready as they could be. This time, they had been virtualized in the area where Ulrich had first seen the Sunday swarm of specters. Above them was an enormous rocky mountaintop, whose right side bore one of the large towers, and behind them was the tower that hung from the very edge of Xanadu, surrounded by a dense forest that surrounded the plain grasslands the three currently were. Smaller mountains could be seen in the distance as well, likely there to stop people from just falling off the edge of the island.

Odd stretched and took in a deep breath, taking in Xanadu's landscape. Huh…a change of scenery did feel nice after all. He felt an immense sense of calm wash over him as he took in the virtual world.

" _Now then,"_ the transmitted voice of Jeremie spoke, _"Odd, let's say that a random stranger with a knife came up to you, what do you do?"_

Annnd there went the calm. "Uh, run?" Odd asked. "Isn't that natural?"

" _Okay, okay…good…good…"_ Jeremie replied, typing in some notes.

"What are you trying to get at Einstein?"

"He has this idea that your power is suited more for dodging or something like that." Yumi explained. "Instead of being a direct combat power, it's closer to a tactical support one. One that can give insight to strategies, or, in a pinch, alert someone to a situation."

"…Which means?" Odd asked, still not getting it.

"If we want to train you to use your power, we need to put you in a situation where it can actually be useful…and help you get used to it." Yumi answered patiently.

"Speaking of getting used to it…" Odd muttered, looking up at the morning sky of Xanadu, "you said that you had an answer for why my powers kept on going nuts Einstein!"

" _And indeed, I do."_ Jeremie answered. _"Your power is one that seems to react to various events. So, when you were in Xanadu, it activated primarily to alert you to specter attacks, and I presume it activated several times Sunday on earth before it became a problem yesterday. Mind telling us some of these real-world visions?"_

"Real-world, eh?" Odd mused. "Well, I was mainly just shown ahead some conversations where Mr. Tall and Lanky and Overprotective Big Brother tried to grill me on Xanadu. Then I just redirected the conversations away. Why do you think I asked about the clubs here?"

" _Ah, that makes sense. What about yesterday? When exactly did it start getting out of hand?"_

So Odd explained about everything that had happened, describing each vision in as much detail as possible and the lead-ups to them. And it soon became clear just what had happened. Jeremie wrote down what Odd explained, paying careful attention to the big scene made when Odd had seemingly got insane and when he'd had a vision of a dark figure that seemed to have popped up for some strange reason.

"And so, here we are…so NOW can you finish your diagnosis, doc?" Odd asked.

" _Well…the fact that you didn't die from an aneurysm is very impressive. The avatar system is very thorough when it comes to powering people up…"_ Jeremie replied.

"Can we not compliment the haunted death machine, please?" Odd begged.

" _I'm just saying, the program takes every intricacy and potential complication with your powers into account. That's just…wow…"_ Jeremie noted. _"But, back on topic, it does seem that the power activated at random. I'd like to say it worked in situations of high-stress, but if that were true, one vision should've led to another and gone on in a vicious cycle, OR you would've had an actual vision of me blowing up the boiler lines."_

"So, it IS completely random and I'm stuck like this forever?!" Odd wailed.

" _No, no, no._ " Jeremie explained. _"That's not it at all. I said that it SEEMS random, not that it is random. Your power is the one that's most rooted in the mind, while Telekinesis and Super-Sprint require conscious usage for physical application. As such, to figure out what the pattern and activation requirements are so you can control it, you need a special training session. One where we can safely draw out that pattern."_

"Which means?" Odd asked in dread.

"First," Yumi said, raising her index finger, "some meditation might do you some good. It's worked out pretty well for me and Ulrich."

"So…we're just going to be sitting down and going 'Oooooommmmm'?" Odd asked.

"Sitting down silently and concentrating actually." Ulrich clarified.

"Second," Yumi finished, raising her index and middle fingers, "you're going into that forest over there with a five-minute head-start, and then Ulrich and I are going to hunt you down."

"Five minutes?!" Odd spluttered, "Forest? Hunting me down?"

"If direct combat training won't work, we'll use guerilla combat training instead. You may have more experience with dodging and concealment than actually fighting." Yumi answered, "also, it's more like four-and-a-half now."

"So, get going." Ulrich said, clapping his hands.

"Ummm…." Odd groaned.

" _I've charged up your katana and fans!"_ Jeremie put in cheerfully.

"Running now!" Odd cried out, making a mad dash for the forest on all fours and diving into a thicket.

"Damn it, what did I do to deserve this?" he muttered as he wove through the trees.

Odd ran until he reached a small clearing, upon which he stopped and took a deep breath, sitting down on a large rock. The forest was calm and quiet…almost too quiet, but since Xanadu had computer virus phantoms instead of birds, Odd wasn't really surprised. He had no idea how long it had taken him to get to this area, but he figured that at least half of his allotted time was gone. He was tempted to call up Jeremie, but he had a bad feeling that that would just cause him to give away his location.

" _How much longer?" Ulrich asked._

" _ **One more minute."**_ _Jeremie replied._

Odd blinked, and groaned. Another vision. At least it helped him know how long he had until he was hunted down like the animal he was somewhat dressed as. He didn't know if Jeremie had bothered to charge up his Laser Arrows, so he decided to check.

He imagined firing…concentrated, focusing on a patch of grass, and…nothing. That answered that question.

"Damn it…what am I supposed to do now?" he asked himself, looking up at the massive tower in the distance that loomed over the forest. "One-minute left before the hunters come, I've got no weapons, a power that's more unpredictable than Adele and Pauline put together, and I still look like a dorky cat-man!"

For a moment, Odd briefly considered just staying put where he was and to get the whole thing over with. This entire ordeal was getting to be a major hassle that he did NOT want to deal with. Seriously, he'd rather just dodge the whole damn thing like he did back home and…

Wait…dodge the whole damn thing…

Dodge…dodging…running…

Back home…

Right…back home…back in Palermo…Where he'd learned to hone himself…where he had to tell people that he was svelte, not scrawny, as he grew up…where he'd always had to find himself dodging things like his sister's pranks or the occasional tough guy wanting to pick a fight because he thought (Unfortunately for Odd, correctly), that he could pummel Odd.

And the other, deeper stuff that he really, _really_ didn't want to think about right now.

He thought back to how Jeremie had told him that his power was connected to his subconscious…how Jeremie said it was rooted in the mind, and how Ulrich and Yumi trained with their powers since they had experience with actually fighting people that Odd really didn't stand much of a chance with. Then there was what he'd used the power for before it went crazy…he'd used it to avoid situations like the fatal ones in Xanadu, and the prying at school.

Then there was this entire training simulation…where Odd wasn't in much of a position to fight Ulrich or Yumi directly…not that he could take them on fair and square, but still…Yes. Yes. That was how. He wasn't supposed to fight like them, nor did he want to. He had to take them on by HIS terms…and maybe that was the key to start getting Future Flash under control!

" _ **Thirty seconds left."**_ _Jeremie reported._

" _You know where he is?" Ulrich asked._

" _ **Yeah…but…if I told you, well…it would pretty much ruin the point of the exercise."**_ _Jeremie responded._

And there was his cue. Odd ran through the forest for a few feet, before noticing a drop on the ground and grabbed onto a tree with his claws. Sinking into the bark, they held fast…which dropped an idea into Odd's head. If the point of this whole training session was to be sneaky and dodgy…well…he'd give Ulrich and Yumi exactly that. Thoughts of pranks he'd managed to retaliate against back at home sprung to mind, and the cat quickly climbed up the tree, sneaking through the thick branches with agility that came by more naturally than ever.

Finding a well-hidden branch, Odd snuggled into the leaves, kept his breath low, and waited for the hunters.

The Samurai and the Geisha stood at the part of the forest where the Chesire Cat had run off to. Yumi motioned to Ulrich that they were to split up, and the boy nodded as they entered the forest from different angles. Ulrich kept his hand at his waist, ready to draw his sword if need be. He looked from side to side as he made his way through the trees, but saw and heard nothing.

"For a guy who talks a lot, he's become pretty quiet." Ulrich muttered to himself.

He walked slowly, the only sound being that of the grass crunching underneath his shoes. Ulrich debated on what to do next. The forest was too thick for Super-Sprint to be of any use. If he activated it, he'd have to run over to the lake, scout around it and the tower twice, and then run back into the forest where he'd have to walk again. The fact that he couldn't see Odd was disturbing. If brown or black had been the cat-boy's primary color scheme when virtualized, Ulrich would've felt more at ease since a color scheme like that would be able to blend in. Oh sure, it'd still be tense…but not surprising. A purple cat-man stood out way too much to just disappear like that.

The part of the forest Ulrich entered had trees with thick branches above him, blotting out a good portion of the sun. Expression remaining unchanged, Ulrich unsheathed his katana, the blue glow of the binary blade illuminating the trees above.

Odd had already seen Ulrich two minutes before his arrival. He slunk through the branches, and breathed deeply.

Yumi floated a closed fan frame, and telekinetically shot it up above on the branches. She was familiar enough with terrain like this to know that Odd would not be stupid to attempt a full-frontal assault unless he had decided to give up. There were two strategies available to him: First, he could dive into the lake and swim to one of the tower cables that dipped into the water, waiting to see if Yumi or Ulrich would appear at the lake border, and then swim back towards the forest to avoid the two. That strategy however, could easily be foiled by Ulrich's Super-Sprint and the lake was small enough that the two could catch Odd if he bobbed up for breath mid-swim.

So…it was unlikely that Odd would be in the lake, and if he was, she'd leave Ulrich to investigate the area if that was the case. That left the second strategy, and considering Odd's appearance and virtualized mannerisms, the more likely one. While the forest was thick, Odd was too distinct to hide on the ground. It was more than likely that he was somewhere in the trees, hence why she'd shot the fan frame, to shoo him out of the branches.

Odd blinked. Great…and here he thought Ulrich's sword would be the problem. Ulrich was closer, but Yumi seemed more likely to catch him…but…hmm.

For a moment, Odd allowed an obnoxious grin to spread on his face as a lightbulb went on in his head. Yeah…that would work.

Odd breathed as Ulrich started to come into sight. If he was too close, he'd cut the branch and catch Odd, but if he was too far, he wouldn't fall for the trap. Numerous visions flashed before Odd's eyes, each one with Ulrich at a different distance than before. Odd grit his teeth, trying to separate the visions from one another…until he saw exactly what he needed. He blinked, focused on that spot for a few seconds, before turning around juuust enough to let his tail out like a worm baiting a fish.

Ulrich saw it immediately, and sped towards Odd. Odd meowed tauntingly and jumped for the nearest branch as Ulrich rushed to cut them with his sword. He sliced through several branches, but no Odd as the cat-man jumped up further into even thicker branches further away.

"Tch. Found him Yumi!" Ulrich called, "he's in the trees!".

The voice connections were not just designed to allow for communication from the factory terminal. The group had learned that they could also be used for long-range communication with one-another. Granted, this wasn't 100% long-range, but still.

Yumi nodded, "Jeremie, where's Ulrich?"

" _50 meters from where you are!"_ Jeremie responded.

Yumi nodded, and then ran for Ulrich.

The samurai was silent as he paced around the set of trees Odd had taken refuge in.

"Oi! Why're you still down there?" Odd's voice taunted. "Afraid of heights?"

Ulrich's eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent. He wasn't afraid of heights, he was just trying to figure out how to climb that tree while still being able to use his sword.

"I can make it easier for you!" Odd called out mockingly.

"Last I checked this whole thing was for you, dumbass!" Ulrich responded.

"Really original taunt there!" Odd called, now comfortably in his element.

Branches swayed and shook, and once again, Odd let his tail hang down like bait as he crawled through the tree-tops. "I thought you were the fast guy! Are you holding back for little old me?"

"No need to." Ulrich grumbled as he ran after Odd, who briefly gulped seeing Ulrich's natural speed…and that he saw brief glimpses of the light of super-sprint.

Great...the guy knew how to use it in short bursts. He needed to find where Yumi was…

_Yumi had heard the commotion as she ran closer, and she unsheathed her fans. Already she had figured it out, she and Ulrich would hit Odd pincer-style. She'd launch her fans into the trees and cut the branches one by one and drop Odd to the ground._

Odd realized that Yumi wasn't that far away…but that Ulrich was about to catch him. They were moving into a more open area with larger gaps, giving Ulrich an opportunity to use longer activations of Super-Sprint. This was the risky part…he'd have to time it just right. Ulrich jumped, this time his slash barely missing Odd. The next few moments would decide the outcome. Odd made a left, and…yes! There was Yumi!

Ulrich jumped up, and Odd dove down next to Yumi, too low for her to use her fans. He then turned to the right as Ulrich dove down and Yumi threw her fans up in surprise. Odd ran on all fours, clear out of the way, and the two hastily disarmed themselves…and crashed on top of each other in a tangle of arms and legs.

"And that's what I call payback!" Odd declared, standing up in triumph.

Both Ulrich and Yumi were speechless, though whether or not that had to do with Odd actually managing to dodge them or because he specifically had it so that they'd tangle up with each other was unknown. Both managed to separate from each other, faces red, with Yumi coughing hurriedly as she thought of something to say.

"I-I suppose that means you're getting control of your power again?" she asked.

Odd stretched in victory. "Eeeyup! Ah…life is good again!"

But there was an indication on Jeremie's screen that indicated that life was NOT good again. A window on his computer opened, revealing a 3-D model of one of the towers. Jeremie saw a hazard symbol flash in red as the outline turned from green to red. He looked at the coordinates and pushed his glasses into place.

"I wouldn't count on that Odd." Jeremie countered. "There's trouble going on. A tower has just been accessed by the specters!"

"…Oh, come on!" Odd cried out, stamping his foot in annoyance, earning a small chuckle from Yumi and Ulrich.

* * *

"I can't believe this…" Michael Roulier grumbled as he looked at the ruptured pipe. "Ever since last month we've been having problems here and there, but this takes the cake."

"Can you at least fix it?" Delmas asked.

"It's not horribly major. I can have it fixed up by tonight and finish the job by the end of the week. Need to check on it though…" the groundskeeper muttered, wondering if the school would ever hire someone to work solely as a janitor full-time just to lighten his own load.

"Well then, very nice to know. Keep at it then." Delmas said, leaving the disgruntled groundskeeper to his work.

Meanwhile, Sebastian looked at where the explosion had been, eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was either a simple accident caused by a lack of school funding for maintenance, or having to do with the situation at hand. Honestly, Sebastian didn't know which, since both were pretty likely. The situation had already seemed to develop at a rapid pace, with the new kid clearly being stressed out about something…not to mention his little breakdown yesterday. On the one hand, it seemed _easy_ to just corner Della Robbia and get the information he wanted…but on the other hand, Sebastian's gut was telling him to be careful. The last time he'd been blunt, Milly had given her free will up to Teddy and nearly killed him, and he didn't want to repeat that mistake, despite Hugo's increased insistence that they do something about it. He'd been ready to do some interrogation last night, but the continued presence of Yumi and Ulrich made him decide not to. There were _way_ too many moving parts right now…

Speaking of moving parts, Sebastian noticed Hugo and Charlie not too far away, panting in exhaustion. Curious, the lanky teen approached them.

"Yo, Abels, You two okay?" Sebastian asked. "You look like you've been practicing for a marathon."

Hugo glared at Sebastian. "You know that's not it."

"The…puppy…" Charlie panted. "He… doesn't want to play with me."

"More like Odd decided to sic him on us." Hugo muttered. "I KNOW that's why he did it."

"Oh? You two know where Della Robbia is?" Sebastian asked.

"No…" Hugo grumbled darkly. "We lost track of the dog in the woods. No idea where he is."

"Bummer. We could've used him as leverage." Sebastian sighed. "I mean, I don't want to sink down to the levels of some of the creeps in the alleyways, but still."

"But still?" Hugo hissed. "Sebastian, we haven't made a single bit of progress in figuring anything out! Amare's not going to help us, and Milly and Tamiya are probably just going to publish this before we get anything done!" he clenched his fists in anger. "We're all going to die at this rate!"

Sebastian rose an eyebrow. While he would've admitted to being superstitious…even he was wondering if Hugo was starting to go a tad overboard. There hadn't been anything else like Teddy for a month now, so he didn't see the reason in actively hunting Belpois, Della Robbia, Ishiyama, or Stern down yet like Abel the Elder seemed ready to do.

"Look…I'll admit I'm as suspicious about this as you are, Abel." Sebastian said, declining to use 'the Elder' since Charlie was now playing in the track sandpit. "But you're going a tad…well…overboard."

"Overboard?" Hugo hissed, "how is this all going overboard? Odd went completely crazy yesterday! Just like how Milly did!"

Sebastian bit the inside of his cheek, mulling over that. At least Della Robbia seemed to have caught himself. However, he could also see a crazed gleam in Hugo's eyes that was…more than a tad worrying and all-too-similar to the gleam Milly's eyes once had. Best to get that under control. It would do them no good to turn as insane as Teddy in attempting to figure out what was going on.

"I swear, we're going to have try some more drastic measures…maybe I should try spreading rumors about Yumi and Ulrich to hit their focus and then corner the new kid…" Hugo muttered.

"Okay, stop right there." Sebastian said firmly. "We don't need to stoop to the level of some gossip spreader, nor should we deliberately destroy our own social circle just to get some answers. I know you're…protective Abel, but driving everyone away just for a tiny bit of info is…not what I'd consider to be an equivalent exchange."

"For the love of…." Hugo growled. "You're just as much on edge as I am! Why the hell haven't you figured anything out?! At least I'm trying to do something!"

"Because pissing them off and starting a war is _such_ a good idea." Sebastian replied sarcastically.

"It's all I have!" Hugo said, ripping his cap off and slamming it into the ground. "How the hell else are we supposed to do anything?"

Sebastian sighed, and looked at Hugo, who lay down on the ground with a hard scowl on his face.

"It's kind of ironic, back when Teddy was killing us, you were the one holding it together, and Arendse wasn't doing all that great…and now that we DON'T have a monster coming after us, the positions have reversed." He observed.

"You got a point to make?" Hugo scowled.

"Eh…not much of one. If we're not making any progress right now…we should just hold back and wait for now. We can't force this thing, Abel, and I don't think we'll have to, the way things are developing." Sebastion responded.

"And how ARE things developing?" Hugo asked, sitting up as Sebastian sat down next to him.

"Della Robbia's having some kind of trouble, though we don't know what it is, and Belpois, Ishiyama, and Stern are on their guard because of it. And isn't it strange that they've recruited some total stranger to whatever weird secret they've got rather than tell us in the first place?" Sebastian said. "However, with the way things are playing out…we might not have to start a war of bad clichés, but just sit back and watch the train crash."

"…That's a terrible metaphor." Hugo replied. "What are you getting at, Sebastian?"

"Once the weekend starts up, I don't think we'll have to wait much longer. Things like this don't go on and on forever you know." Sebastian explained. "By Saturday, we just might see something new pop up."

"You're awfully optimistic." Hugo noted. "Who are you and what have you done with Sebastian Toup?"

"Just laying out the game plan. It won't do us any good getting stressed out about it. I've seen how things go down in the alleyways. Trust me, Abel, you don't want to see that kind of stuff." Sebastian replied.

Hugo folded his arms…but didn't seem to argue any further. Charlie ran up to the two, hands covered in sand and dirt. "Can we go now?" he asked.

"Fine." Hugo breathed.

And with that, the three left the field, though Sebastian spent a few extra seconds staring at where the steam from the boiler room had escaped, watching as Principal Delmas headed for his office. He narrowed his eyes, but turned away.

Had he kept watching for a few more seconds however, he might've noticed the door slamming shut on its own…

It was just as well, since Michael Rouiler was having a very difficult time operating the boiler lines. He had just managed to remove the damaged pipe and was looking to see if he could locate the replacement one, only to feel a slight tremor as the temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly. The groundskeeper shivered. Ever since the Panic, the weather had seemed to have sunk into stasis, with moderate spring-early summer temperatures remaining all year 'round, with the exception of December-February, where the temperature dropped just enough to know it was winter…but still not cold enough to have an effect on the trees.

Suddenly, jets of steam burst from some other pipes, causing Michael Rouiler to shout in surprise, but just as suddenly as the jets appeared, they quickly stopped. The pipes began to tremble, and the groundskeeper immediately ran to the inner chamber where the boilers were situated. But what he found was…rather boggling, to say the least.

"What the hell?" he murmured in morbid horror.

The boilers were slowly trembling, seeming to have become unstable. Michael Rouiler looked at the pressure valves, and his jaw dropped to the ground as the needle shifted back and forth, as if the pressure was continuously changing. This should not have been possible, he'd turned off the boilers twenty minutes ago! Steam seemed to emerge from new leaks, whereas older openings that he'd patched up before had an absence of steam. It was as if the room had gained a mind of its own… either that or the groundskeeper was having a very strange dream. He pinched himself just to make sure…and found that yes, he was wide awake.

"This is bad…" he muttered, and quickly ran towards the exit to warn Jean-Pierre. Unfortunately, he found that the door was not only shut tight…but somehow locked from the outside, as opposed to the inside.

Now the groundskeeper began to panic, banging on the door, crying for help. He tried to pry it open, but to no avail. The boiler room began to fill with steam, which seemed to shape itself in demonic apparitions, or perhaps he was just seeing things from panic. Whatever the case, Michael Rouiler was now trapped in a boiler room that was viable to explode.

"HELP! HELP!" He cried, banging on the door.

But even if Sebastian Toup had stuck around for a few more seconds to see the door slam shut, or if the principal had stalled to look at his watch, none of them would've heard a peep from the now-sealed off room.

* * *

"Where's the tower located again?" Odd griped as he, Ulrich, and Yumi ran out of the forest.

" _It's located further up to the East, all the way over on the other side of Xanadu."_ Jeremie confirmed.

"…All the way over on the other side of the island?!" Odd spluttered. "Why? How?"

" _Hey, I didn't program the specters. And I don't think you'll be getting an answer out of them anytime soon."_

"Great! How the hell are we supposed to get there?" Odd groaned.

" _Don't worry, now that you're starting to get used to fighting in Xanadu, you should find yourself having a lot more stamina than before! You'll get there easily."_

But Jeremie would have to eat his words as two specters burst from the ground and hovered above the three fighters.

"…You were saying?" Odd asked.

"Stop complaining and get them!" Yumi ordered, drawing a tessen and launching it at the monsters, who flew higher up to avoid the disc. "Oh no, you don't!" Yumi cried, activating her telekinesis and launching the fan upward. This time, the weapon found its mark, ripping one of the specters to shreds as the second one flew away at high speed.

_But unbeknownst to them, two more specters were starting to emerge behind them, ready to pounce…_

Odd yelped as another vision came before him, and he whipped around, firing an arrow at the emerging phantoms, blowing one up as soon as it emerged, and stunning the other one momentarily, before it flew upwards, dodging Odd's other shots, before it joined with its companion and swarmed about in the air.

"Great. How do we deal with Thing 1 and Thing 2?" Odd asked.

"They'll have to come down sometime." Yumi replied. "And we'll get them before they can get down here. Ulrich, you're the fastest, head for the tower."

Ulrich gave Yumi a curt nod, and dashed away in a trail of blue light, leaving Yumi and Odd to fight the specters. The two creatures stopped moving, and seemed to notice that Ulrich had broken off from the main group. They dashed downwards to intercept him.

Odd didn't need a vision to figure out what was going to happen next, and he immediately fired another volley of arrows. Most of the shots missed, but one found its target and killed the specter, knocking the second one off course as it flew around, trying to attack Odd in retaliation...only to be cut apart by another one of Yumi's telekinetically-enhanced fans.

" _Odd, watch it, you've used up half of the ammo in both of your arms. You've only got 12 shots in your right arm, and 14 in your left."_ Jeremie warned.

"That's another thing to practice." Yumi noted. "Your accuracy."

"Can't you just reload me?" Odd asked.

From his monitor, Jeremie shook his head. _"Not unless you run out of arrows. And even then, it'll take ten seconds…unless Yumi and Ulrich run out of energy, so then it'll take fifteen. And you never know what'll happen in those ten seconds."_

"What could happen in ten seconds? I'm not seeing a lot of specters like yesterday." Odd noted.

"It's easier to hit targets when they're crowding around instead of being scattered all over the place." Yumi pointed out. "You'll notice that I only needed one shot from one fan."

She accentuated the point by revealing that the fan she had thrown had been hovering around her ever since the battle hand begun, but at that moment Yumi placed it back in her hand and folded it.

"Wouldn't that just drain out energy or something?" Odd asked.

" _It limits THROWS."_ Jeremie pointed out. _"Until the fan goes back to her hand, it still counts as being thrown."_

"But it does tax Telekinesis." Yumi revealed.

"Oh…huh…well, that's an interesting loophole, so what now?" Odd asked again.

"We keep on going." Yumi ordered, and the two began to go forwards, until…

" _Um…warning about what's up ahead."_ Jeremie warned.

Odd and Yumi looked on as a dark presence loomed over them, seeing a large specter hover over them like a thundercloud while five smaller specters flew around it. Odd's eyes widened in dread at the opponent in front of him.

"…And this is an example of Quality over Quantity." Yumi explained.

"Yeah, the big scary guy leading his gang of wimps." Odd deadpanned in spite of himself.

"You want me to come back?" Ulrich asked, halfway across the island.

" _No, keep up what you're doing."_ Jeremie ordered. _"Get to the tower and take care of the specters there."_

"Wonder how many there'll be today." Ulrich grumbled.

_Around the tower, eight specters swarmed around it, all of them at normal size. They clung to it like caterpillars on a leaf, not planning on letting go anytime soon._

Odd blinked again from his vision. "Eight." He murmured.

"What?" Ulrich asked from the other end.

"There's eight of them. 'Bout the same size as Mr. Big-Shot's cronies over here." Odd confirmed.

"Yeah, I can take them." Ulrich said.

"Don't go getting cocky on us, Ulrich!" Yumi griped, though she got no response from the samurai.

"So…" Odd ventured.

"We kill these things and make sure Ulrich doesn't end up as Specter chow." Yumi growled.

Once again, Odd made a note to NOT get on Yumi's bad side. He almost felt bad for the specters as she unfolded her fans. Almost. Either case, first things first, deal with Monstro and his fellow whales.

"YAHH!" Odd cried out, firing at the lead specter, whose large size made it a very easy target…

And at the same time, a very difficult one to bring down. Like a swarm of bees versus a grizzly bear, the specter shrugged off the attacks despite most of them hitting. It wasn't long before Odd found that he was no longer shooting darts from his wrist, and he gulped as he saw that his attack had had no effect at all.

" _Odd, I don't want to be that guy…but you just ran out of ammo."_ Jeremie said.

"Thanks for the obvious, Einstein! Now reload me!" Odd panicked.

" _Coming up!"_ Jeremie confirmed.

"Now you'll get to see what'll happen in ten seconds." Yumi grunted, unfolding both fans as she watched the specters move about.

The larger specter hovered higher into the air, leaving the remaining five on the attack. And attack they did. Yumi launched a fan at them, but the specters quickly flew out of the way, flying as fast as Ulrich with Super-Sprint to dodge the attack. Undeterred, Yumi threw her second fan, which once again, the specters managed to dodge. However, she had kept an eye for one of them, and focused her fans so that they would circle around a specter that had distanced itself from the group. She was just about to attack it, but…

_As Odd waited for Jeremie to reload him, he heard a whirling noise…and saw yet another specter strike at him. Odd dodged it in time…but had left Yumi wide open to attack as the darkness completely immersed her._

Odd spun around and saw the ambusher just in time.

"CRAP!" He yelled, causing Yumi to break her focus and her fans to fall to the ground as the specter rammed Odd.

It was perhaps one of the most physically painful experiences in Odd's entire life. Touching the specter felt like hugging fiberglass, and the creature's constantly shifting form didn't make it any less pleasant. Odd clawed at the monster, desperately trying to hold it back…but it was much stronger than Odd was and forced him to the ground. Yelling, Odd kept on clawing the creature, which, thankfully, seemed to slow it down.

Yumi grunted, but saw the other specters dive towards her. She quickly somersaulted out of the way from one attack, and cartwheeled away from another. Quickly, Yumi's eyes darted around the field, looking for her fans. She saw their blue glow amidst a bush, and telekinetically shot them back into her hands. A third specter charged at her…only to be met with her fans and shredded apart.

" _Odd, you're reloaded!"_ Jeremie called out.

"YAHHHHH!" Odd cried in a panic, punching the specter and shooting at it.

The specter groaned in pain from the burst of blue energy and collapsed into particles.

_Another specter had seen Odd's escape and dashed at him._

"NO! NO! NO!" Odd screeched, flipping around and unloading Laser Arrows at the specter, blowing it to pieces.

Odd panted from the horrible experience as Yumi backflipped towards him.

"And that's what could happen in ten seconds." She said grimly.

"Point…ah…ha…Taken." Odd wheezed.

The three other specters stared down at Odd and Yumi, then looked up at the larger one that still seemed to be deciding on what to do. For a moment, all was quiet aside from Odd's gasping for air. Then the three specters opened their maws and roared, flying down towards Odd and Yumi. Their apparent leader now took the opportunity to begin moving again, hovering more directly at the battlefield.

"Eeeeyah!" Yumi cried, throwing a fan at a specter, which dodged the attack.

"Take this, you jerks!" Odd hissed, firing a Laser Arrow at another one, but only grazing it. Still, the arrow exploded, which knocked the specter off-course, but wasn't enough to actually destroy it.

Like sharks, the three specters circled around their prey, growling and snarling. Odd didn't know if they had any actual tongues or teeth, but the black shapes that appeared seemed to reveal rows and rows of the latter. And the noise…it was like an unholy combination between a dying animal and a loud, blaring blowhorn. Odd's ears twitched in pain and goosebumps ran up Odd's spine from having to listen to it.

"Do they always do that?" Odd asked.

"Not very much." Yumi admitted. "First time I've seen them act so vicious…well…relatively speaking."

" _Like I said, things are getting more intense."_ Jeremie put in.

"Great, things are getting harder! What's next?!" Odd complained.

_As soon as Odd asked the question, the three specters dashed at him and Yumi. Despite their more ferocious appearance, defeating them was pretty easy. Then, like a gargantuan anvil, the larger specter slammed right on top of them, instantly killing the two._

"Annnd I just got another vision of us dying!" Odd panicked as the three specters dashed at him and Yumi.

"And that vision is?" Yumi asked, sounding disturbingly more curious than afraid as her fans finally destroyed two of the specters.

"Look up above!" Odd cried out, trying to shoot the big specter, but the last of the smaller ones got in the way and was destroyed instead.

"Look up…above…?" Yumi asked, fans returning to her hands and folding as their interiors broke down, before seeing a massive black shadow cover the field. "Oh."

Thrusting her arms upwards, Yumi applied her telekinesis with as much force as possible to arrest the speed of the descending specter. The monster's attack began to slow, and it roared as Yumi seemed to be stopping it. Odd watched as the monster's immense maw opened, and found that the larger version of the specters' mouths was far more terrifying.

"Odd…" Yumi grunted. "I'd…appreciate it…if you…can destroy this thing before I run out of energy."

"Last time I fired at the stupid thing, it just shrugged them off!" Odd protested.

"Just…DO IT!" Yumi yelled in an authoritative voice, struggling against the creature's weight and force.

Odd grimaced, but aimed at the monster, letting loose whatever ammo he had left. This time, his attacks seemed to have some effect, being launched into the monster's open mouth. The immense specter roared in pain, but then closed its mouth before Odd could pull off another strike. Still though, it seemed that Odd's attacks were still doing more damage than before, as a noise resembling moaning emanated from the specter. It continued to struggle against Yumi's telekinetic grip…and at last broke free, and flew up into the air once again.

Yumi gasped and fell onto the ground, panting. "That…that took a lot out of me."

" _I'm reloading you now, Yumi."_ Jeremie said grimly.

"How many arrows do I have?" Odd asked.

" _11 left in your right arm, 12 in your left arm."_ Jeremie said.

"Great…" Odd groaned, looking at the enduring monster. "How am I supposed to kill this thing? It's shrugged everything off!"

" _No…your previous attacks did affect it...though it had enough mass to shrug it off. Hitting it in the center seems to have weakened it, though I doubt it'll give you that kind of chance again."_ Jeremie said.

"Which basically means we're back to square one!" Odd complained. "This is great, just great, Yumi's down, Ulrich can't help us, and Mr. Big-Dark-And-Scary is still on his A-game!"

"Odd…" Yumi panted, but it seemed that Odd was still wanting to vent.

"This is great, just great! A simple training session supposed to get my powers under control goes completely out of hand, and we're pretty much dead! I mean…how the hell am I supposed to take that thing down?! This is it! We're dead! Three days in my new neighborhood, and I'm going to die! That's it, Game Over! We're-"

"ODD!" Yumi shouted, causing Odd to freeze.

"…Okay, do you feel better now?" she asked, being reminded of Hiroki's temper tantrums.

"…A little." Odd admitted sheepishly.

"Good." Yumi replied, looking up to see that the larger specter had shrunk down somewhat, and was now circling. "Now then, since we've come here, you've managed to use your power in a more useful manner, right?"

"Well, yeah…I mean, it's not getting out of hand." Odd said. "I mean, it only turns on whenever something about to kill us happens…"

"Sure…and no, things aren't out of hand. We only have one more specter to deal with…ow…" Yumi panted, trying to get up, but a sudden headache from overexertion took over and she kneeled back down to steel herself. "Well, you only have one more specter to deal with now. Don't know how Ulrich's doing."

" _Actually, I think he's almost done with them."_ Jeremie said, looking at another screen.

"Good, so he's not being killed for being an idiot." Yumi nodded. "We're not going to die here, and I think you can manage that and take that monster down."

"How?" Odd asked. "It's like you said, SUPPORT power, that's what mine is! And that thing's…well…a little smaller now, but how am I supposed to take it out?"

Yumi breathed to get her strength back, a plan forming in her head. "That…that's something you'll have to think of yourself. If your power can help us avoid bad outcomes…no point in seeing how it can tell us about good ones."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Odd asked, "what, do you want me to do something to get that thing's attention?"

Yumi nodded.

"…Why didn't you just say so?!" Odd asked, bewildered.

"You were whining like my little brother did during this one summer when his umbrella broke apart because he kept on swinging it during a rainstorm like an idiot and smacked right into the wind." Yumi deadpanned. "Figured that I might as well give you a pep-talk."

The look on Odd's face was priceless, though Yumi didn't let her amusement at it show.

Odd sighed, and looked at the specter. He had to get this right…

_Odd fired…but the explosion didn't even get close enough and the monster kept on circling._

_Odd fired…but hit the monster's tail and caused it to retreat…right in the direction where Ulrich had gone._

_Odd fired, but was at the wrong angle and didn't even come close to the monster._

_Odd turned around and spanked his butt at the monster in an attempt to taunt it._

'GAH!' Odd thought. 'No, no, no! Not like that! Make a good outcome! Find the right one! Figure out how to cause it!'

He breathed, and aimed. He had to think about which of the choices thrown in front of him that he had to take. He narrowed his eyes until he could see his wrist overlap with the specter. He kept his body as rigid as possible, and waited for the right moment. If he missed, there was a chance that the specter could retreat and go after Ulrich, meaning that he _could_ get killed like Yumi said.

Odd took a deep breath…waited…waited…then…right where it would go next!

Odd fired.

The Laser Arrow shot high into the air, meeting right where the Specter's next fly-through would be, hitting it dead-center in, well, the closest thing it HAD to a head. The explosion caused the specter to convulse, but it still wasn't dead. It looked down at Odd, and twitched, as if it was furious at being hit again.

Odd couldn't help himself, he turned around and spanked his butt at the monster, taunting it.

"NYAH, NYAH, NY-NY-NYAH!" Odd called.

The specter was still…and then it roared and dashed at Odd at a speed Odd didn't think a monster that size was capable of. Odd's eyes widened as he deeply began to regret that decision and he ran as fast as his four limbs could carry him.

"C-Can't you guys take a joke?" Odd asked.

The specter roared, as if to say 'No'. It was now right on top of Odd, opening its mouth wide open to eat him, having enough mass to resist another explosion…only to roar in pain as Yumi's fans ground right into it. Odd fell to the ground, and by instinct, unloaded every arrow he had left into the weakening specter. It now roared in pain as Odd's arrows burst into its body, and Yumi's fans struck it again. Odd watched as the monster shuddered violently. It turned, preparing to attack the now-defenseless Odd…but was hit with a third throw of Yumi's fans, which cut right through the monster on both the initial throw and the return trip.

Finally, the specter was dead.

Odd took in deep breaths. He felt like sweating bullets, and shakily got up. Yumi too, panted heavily, rubbed her forehead, and looked to where Ulrich had gone.

"Is that it?" The geisha asked.

Jeremie looked at the screen. _"Just one more left."_

Ulrich stood before the last specter, standing in an In No Kamae stance…and dashed towards the specter, who tried desperately to get away from Ulrich, but to avail. The samurai jumped atop the specter, which was flying up the slope…and cut it in half.

"Alright!" Jeremie cheered, watching as the notification screen changed status and closed. The attack was over.

* * *

Michael Rouiler took a rag from his pocket and wiped his face. He trudged through the steam, and the continuing extreme shifting of temperature in the boiler room. He staggered to the lower level, watching the pressure gauge head towards critical, and put a finger to his neck to check his pulse. So this was what waiting for death was like. A slow, calming sensation as the steam disappeared and the gauge returned…to…normal…

…Wait, what?

Michael Rouiler blinked and saw that the gauge had returned to normal and that the steam was gone. The temperature of the room had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened! He quickly ran for the door…and found that it was open again.

"…I need a vacation." Michael Rouiler grumbled as he went back to work.

* * *

Odd took a long, long drink of cold water from a bottle kept in the mini-fridge. The attack was over, and he could finally relax.

"So…no more visions?" Yumi asked.

"None for now!" Odd cheered wearily.

Ulrich nodded silently, a towel over his neck as he wiped away the sweat.

"Well…this is a good first step!" Jeremie said, swiveling around his chair.

"First step?" Odd asked, before reconsidering. "Wait, no, scratch that…there's gonna be more of this, right? Never mind."

"You figured out that you'll have to come here again and get proper real-world training?" Ulrich deadpanned.

"Just don't punch like before, and we'll be just fine." Odd breathed as he got up.

Suddenly, there was a faint barking noise from outside the factory. Odd's ears perked up and he turned to the entrance.

_Kiwi scratched at the factory doors, barking for his owner._

"Wait, Kiwi!" Odd cried, running for the door…and tripping over a large pipe and falling flat on his face.

"I'll get it." Ulrich said, rushing to the entrance and opening it, causing the small dog to bound into the factory and eagerly lick his owner's face.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Odd laughed in spite of himself, picking Kiwi up, who barked at him. "You managed to throw those brothers off, didn't you!"

Kiwi barked again, in the affirmative.

"He got away from them, huh?" Jeremie asked. "Huh…guess he's not as dumb as he looks."

"KIWI THROW!" Odd announced, launching Kiwi at Jeremie, who flayed his arms helplessly as Kiwi landed atop of him, barking all the while.

"Like I said, he's mean!" Odd laughed, louder this time, with Yumi chuckling, while Ulrich rolled his eyes.

* * *

The rest of the day proceeded relatively smoothly. Odd's visions had fallen down sharply, and the rapid bombardment gone. He felt a calm that he hadn't felt for what seemed like ages…even though it had only lasted a day…eh, disregarding the home situation. That wasn't important. Never was. Never would be.

…And no visions on that, great!

So, with nothing else to report, with even the Paparazzi and Sebastian not seeming suspicious (Though, Odd swore that Hugo kept on glaring at him), Odd could go to sleep with a light heart. Though, just before he went to sleep, Odd snapped a picture of the…whatever-it-was with his phone, since Jeremie expressed interest in studying the drawing.

As Odd sent the picture and snuggled into bed, the thought of the subject of that drawing becoming important crossed his mind…but no…it couldn't be important. Wasn't now, hopefully wouldn't be, and there were no visions on that, great!

Yawning contently, Odd Della Robbia went to sleep.

* * *

_It…it was really over, wasn't it? This was it. This was what losing truly felt like._

_Despite their best efforts…they had failed. Nothing they did could even put a scratch on her. She was too strong. And so, what was happening now because of that failure? Now the sky was full of nothing but clouds of grey and black, with eerie white moon-like light shining down, casting a glow that seemed to heighten the darkness instead of lessening it. Everything below them now matched the chaotic void that the islands sprung from. The structures had finished assembling themselves, and now, above them directly, on top of the tenth and tallest tower that rose above all of the others in that world, including the other islands, was an enormous gateway, sundering the sky where the sun and the moon had once been. What lay beyond it, he did not want to find out._

_And as if to taunt them, the four who had challenged her: The Samurai, the Geisha, the Chesire Cat, and the Lost Boy; the Grim Reaper loomed above them, arms and wings spread out wide, scythe reflecting the unsettling light, knowing that she had triumphed._

_She lowered her face at him, as if she was about to speak…but just as she made eye contact with him…nothing filled his field of vision._

_Nothing…_

_Nothing…_

_Nothing…_

_Nothing but white, no matter where he looked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope! Nothing ominous here! I mean, what's the chances of all of these dreams playing a role in this story?
> 
> You all probably know the answer ;)
> 
> Next time, we begin the three-parter that is File 5!


	6. The Roads Leading Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the week has come for our heroes...but just because one week has ended does not mean the upcoming days will be any easier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everyone. We are onto File 5...or well, technically File 5.1, as this marks the real meat of Files being split at various points I deem worthy as ending points. Considering how long previous chapters are...we can call this a blessing and a mercy.

_Garage Kids_

File 5.1: The Roads Leading Ahead

If you were to ask Odd Della Robbia how his week had been, you would've had to face some rather suspicious dodging of certain topics, such as: Why he'd suddenly gone on a crazed drunken run in the hallways on Monday, Why he had suddenly landed like a cat in gym class, and What The Hell Was The Weird Drawing on his desk?

Of course, if you _were_ going to ask Odd Della Robbia about those topics, you would've likely been Hugo Abel, and if you were Hugo Abel trying to broach the subject, you would have found that Odd would: A) Have a convenient excuse to get away from you, B) Be somewhere else already, or C) Be with Ulrich and/or Yumi thus meaning you would run the risk of getting your face punched in.

And if, by per chance, you were not Hugo Abel, but instead Odd Della Robbia himself, and were just given a general question of how your week had been, like so:

"So, Della Robbia…" Sebastian asked Odd as they packed away their binders as art class ended, "How's your week here been so far?"

"Eh…a mixed bag. Still a big step up from back home!" Odd replied.

Then technically speaking, you wouldn't be lying.

The remainder of the week had been a much calmer adjustment period for Odd. The trip to Xanadu had seemed to be just the antidote to his powers getting out of control, and he was able to actually enjoy himself without being hit with rampant visions. While they were still random, they weren't as frequent, and the ability had actually been useful in dodging potential inquiries from Milly and Tamiya, as well as Hugo. Wait, scratch that, _especially_ Hugo. Classes were classes, immediately resuming Wednesday after Jeremie's impromptu 'distraction' and it was soon clear that in topics that interested Odd, particularly art, he put a great deal of effort into learning about them. Classes like Math and Science…not so much.

Of course, that was hardly any different from his academic performance back home.

On the social side of things, Odd still found himself as the week's laughing stock thanks to his prior mad run, and he was not happy to learn that it had become viral, as a few students had whipped out their phones to take pictures and videos of what was now known as 'The Dog Run'. Titles that he'd heard about were: 'Gotta Go Fast Into a Wall', 'Blind Leading Blind', and 'Crazy Person Runs Around Mumbling About Kiwis'. And as the final nail in the coffin, while Odd didn't have to answer any of Milly and Tamiya's questions…he unfortunately learned that the Kadic News was published every Wednesday, and so the two junior reporters had had ample time for a last-minute article that Milly had thoughtfully named: 'Mysterious Hysteria in the Halls'.

Watching Yumi bop the two over the head with their own newspaper and scold Milly about respecting the privacy of others thus gave Odd some sense of retribution.

And then there was the nagging fact that, well…he was still having the same dream every night. It had happened enough times that Odd was now able to remember some details. What seemed to be himself, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie; fighting the Grim Reaper figure that Odd had drawn. Unfortunately, said Grim Reaper, quite simply put, was kicking their asses. The scenes would be slightly different every time, but the basic premise remained the same. No matter what scene Odd saw, it was always, always, _always_ showing this strange and enigmatic monster as having the upper hand over the virtual fighters. Odd had tried to ignore the implications of these dreams for now, but the fact that he was starting to clearly recall what they were truly about was…well…

Unsettling, to say the least.

But as for right now though, Odd's focus was to walk up to Mr. Chardin's desk, and turn in the day's work, as well as his project submission. He'd immediately thought of what he was going to do, which, while he wasn't proud of it, was helped somewhat when he turned to the drawing of the…thing, for inspiration. And so…

"Excellent work, Mr. Della Robbia!" Chardin enthused. "Far better than when you started this week!"

Odd sheepishly put a hand behind his head. "Well…I got…distracted."

"Ah, understandable. But do know that while people expect great art, sometimes, we must manage with our deadlines and constraints." The art teacher replied. "Why, I remember last semester's theatrical performance. I had to make do with _Cyrano de Bergerac_ since our funding was cut. I even had to reuse the _Romeo and Juliet_ set from the year before that because I needed another play that had a balcony in it."

"It was awful…" Sebastian shuddered as he left the classroom.

"Thankfully, the Principal actually managed to allocate more funding for the Spring Theatrical performance. This time, I intend to do _Alice in Wonderland_!"

Odd immediately remembered his Xanadu form and suppressed a shudder.

"Now then, do you have your Project proposal?" Chardin asked, oblivious to his pupil's discomfort.

Odd nodded. "I'm planning an animation."

"Very well, here are the guidelines." Chardin said, whipping out a folder with many sheets of paper, and handing one of those sheets to Odd.

"They're not digital?" Odd asked, slipping the paper into his sketchpad.

Chardin let out a short laugh. "No, I'll admit I'm still a bit old-fashioned when it comes to curriculum. Anyways, it helps me keep a closer eye on what my students are doing, as I'd rather personally see what you are making rather than view it on a screen!"

Odd read over the paper, nodded, and left for his next class.

Italian was uneventful like before, and Odd had little difficulty with it. He could still hear the occasional snicker in his direction when class ended though. At least it was just snickering. Not to mention that since it was Friday, that pretty much meant that people would be more focused on planning out the weekend. And of course, Odd was among them. He was already thinking about exploring the town, when Jeremie put a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"Meeting time." He said.

Odd couldn't help but startle. How the hell did Jeremie appear out of nowhere? "Could you just tap me on the shoulder next time, Einstein?"

"You didn't see me coming?" Jeremie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No…" Odd replied, wondering if Jeremie was planning anything…which he likely was, all things considered.

"Hmm…well, nothing to it. Come on, we've got to make plans for the weekend!"

And Odd's heart sank. A week into his career as an impromptu superhero and already it was eating into his schedule (Even if it wasn't thought of yet). At least there hadn't been any Specter attacks for the rest of the week. No anomalies, no detections, the rest of the week had been calm…aside from the social fallout of Odd's Future Flash-induced outburst killing all attempts for him to get a date.

Ulrich and Yumi were already there at the vending machines, though this time, Odd had to get his own soda.

"So, what are we going to do?" Yumi asked after everyone had taken at least two sips of Ramune.

"Head over to the factory once we're done with our drinks for starters." Jeremie replied, taking another swig of lemonade.

"Let me guess, 'Xanadu Training Session II: Ghostly Boogaloo'?" Odd groaned.

Jeremie nodded.

"And then?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie took a pensive glance into his soda can. "Saturday…I'm still thinking about it. There's really only one thing critical to Xanadu-business, and that's for something I'm planning on Sunday."

"What's happening on Sunday?" Odd asked, dreading the answer.

"I still need to do a bit more research and compile everything…but we'll spending a day out in town on Sunday…with the help of a guide." Jeremie answered.

"A guide?" Odd asked. "Why do we need a guide?"

"Because we're going to that part of town Sebastian always talks about, what he calls, The Alleyways. I have my suspicions that there may be something of interest there. None of us have ever been in that area of the city anyways, so we'll need him to help navigate through that place."

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "So, we're going to start seeing if he's…"

"He and Hugo are getting too suspicious of us to be safe. It's high time we start seeing if it's possible to let one or two of them in on the secret." Jeremie replied. "But…that's ultimately a problem for Sunday."

Odd briefly mulled over the possibility of what it would be like if more people were involved. But he decided to follow Jeremie's advice and save that for later, as he had more immediate concerns.

"So…Saturday's free?"

Jeremie looked at Odd. "Pretty much. Just wanted to give you guys a few days' notice for Sunday. And the day isn't totally free. After all, we still have classes in the morning on Saturdays."

"And there goes 1/4th of the joy of the weekend." Odd groaned.

"Welcome to Boarding School life." Ulrich deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he crumpled the empty can of soda.

Odd sighed, then downed the rest of his drink. "Let's get it on then." He groaned.

* * *

The trip to the factory was uneventful as the sun began to go down, and as such, it wasn't long until the three warriors were loaded into the scanners and immersed themselves into Xanadu. Just like the real-world, the sky had begun to show signs of late afternoon. For a moment, Odd wondered if there was some kind of virtual sun in Xanadu, but then Ulrich let out a battle cry and so Odd had to focus on visions of Ulrich beating him up instead…and hopefully dodge them.

The three had been virtualized on Xanadu's highest point. Right above them, looming, was the virtual world's tallest tower…the one that Odd slowly recognized as always being present somewhere in his visions…

"Keep your eyes open!" Yumi ordered. "Be light on your feet! Predict what'll happen and how to avoid it!"

Ulrich nodded. "What Yumi said."

But Odd's thoughts on that had to wait. First, he had to survive the latest tortu-uh, Training session conceived to test his powers.

"AHHH!" Odd cried as Yumi threw her oh-so _wonderful_ replacement for prayer beads at him via Telekinesis.

The replacement in question?

Large rocks that were scattered here and there. Because Xanadu was evil like that.

Odd yelped as visions of stones being thrown about came to his mind, telling him where Yumi would launch one or where one would end up, and he dodged as best as he could. Then he found himself getting on all-fours and jumped around like a tiger dodging arrows. Or, in this case, a small kitten running away from boulders being launched from catapults.

"Could. You. Be. More. CareFULLL!" Odd cried as each projectile seemed to get bigger and faster.

Yumi, sadly, had the same stoic expression as Ulrich currently did, and so Odd received no reply. Still in a bestial stance, he continued to dodge each of the rocks, finding himself edge closer and closer to the high tower. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, before seeing a previously thrown boulder telekinetically rise into the air. Odd pounced onto one of the tower's cables, preparing to use it to jump off to the side and dodge the attack, when…

_The three virtual warriors looked up atop the High Tower, which the specters did as well, regarding the new arrival with a sense of awe, love, and reverence. The light was blinding to Odd, forcing him to keep his eyes shut. Then, the dark figure who acted as the source of the light above leaped from atop the tower, causing the radiance to approach them like a shooting star…_

Odd tripped and fell to the ground, in shock from the vision he'd just received. Another one just like the dreams…but…clearer? Odd shook his head, and tried to get up, only to bump his head on something hard above him.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his forehead…only to see that it was the boulder that Yumi had launched, stopped in its tracks.

"Get…Out…Of…There…" Yumi hissed, concentrating on the projectile.

Odd nodded and quickly got out of the way, the bounder landing onto the ground with a dull thud.

The samurai narrowed his eyes at the Chesire Cat. "What was that? You had the right position, the right angle, right movement, and then you just dropped onto the ground like a dead slug."

That was perhaps the longest sentence Ulrich had ever spoken to Odd, but the boy ignored it, as he rubbed his head again, looking at the High Tower, spooked. Things were starting to fall into place…the figure, his dreams…this tower…and his latest vision. Odd Della Robbia was proud to claim that he was not superstitious, despite attempts from the twins and Marie to prove otherwise (One of the few times he'd come out on top, bonus!) ...but he was getting a lot of knots in his stomach at the horrible realization that was building inside of him.

He had the power to look into the future…even if it was in short bursts…

He kept on dreaming about him and his newfound allies facing off a dark being from Xanadu, in events that, while not fully remembered, still felt a bit too real to just be a surreal dream. He'd drawn a picture of that dark being…and right now, seemed to have had another vision of it…

He was having dreams of things yet to come…and had just had a proper vision of it…

Which could ultimately mean...

"Odd!"

No reply.

Yumi snapped her fingers. "Odd!"

Yet again, no reply.

BAM!

"AGH!" Odd cried, rubbing his head, turning around to see Ulrich holding the empty hilt of his katana.

"The hell was that for?!" Odd griped, "I've been hit in the head once today, I don't need to be hit again!"

Yumi glared at Odd, causing the cat-boy to feel weak in the knees from fear.

"What was that all about?" she asked. "You just blanked out!"

Odd wet his lips. "Well…uh…"

Yumi put her hands to her hips. "Explain. Now. Is this another side-effect of your powers?"

"H-how'd you guess?" Odd asked, sheepish.

" _It's pretty obvious."_ Jeremie said, in a matter-of-fact tone, but not saying anything more.

"What was it?" Yumi asked, eyes boring a hole into Odd, who gulped nervously. "You're not doing a very good job of hiding it." She accentuated the point by cracking her knuckles, causing even Ulrich to back away. "Explain. Now."

Odd took a deep breath. "Okay, remember when I drew that weird cable monster-phantom thing?"

" _Very intricate and detailed, I have to say…"_ Jeremie said, pulling up the scan he'd requested of the sketch and looking at it intently.

"Not the point!" Odd barked, before forcing himself back to calm. He took a deep breath and continued. "I-I've been having dreams about it for the whole week, never enough, to, you know, remember 'everything' about it, but enough for the gist. Us going up against a giant shadowy grim-reaper/sorceress thing…and losing."

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other, while Jeremie typed out the conversation, taking notes, drinking in the details being shared.

"And your recent vision was…?" Yumi ventured.

Odd sighed. "I just touched a cable back there", he pointed to the high tower, "and then, boom, another vision. This one was clearer though. There was this huge glowing light, all the way at the top of the tower right there, with specters everywhere…then the light just dived towards us like a meteor and…that's it."

"You didn't get anything else?" Yumi asked, concern seeping into her voice as she looked at Xanadu's tallest structure.

"Nope. Kinda had a boulder hanging above my head."

" _Touch it again."_ Jeremie ordered.

Odd blinked and looked up. "I'm sorry, what?"

" _Touch the tower again."_ Jeremie ordered. _"See if you can get another vision."_

"…And why would I want another of these?" Odd asked in shock. "They're seriously messed up!"

Ulrich rolled his eyes, "Just do it."

Odd glared at Ulrich for a few seconds, but the samurai's deadpan stare won out as Odd's eyes faltered. The Chesire Cat gulped, turned, and walked to the tower. A knot of fear and dread came over him as he looked at the mammoth monument. "If this ends badly, can you guys promise to look after Kiwi?"

"I don't think it'll come down to that." Yumi reassured.

 _"And anyways, if this ends badly, I don't think there'll be anyone to look after Kiwi."_ Jeremie cheerfully put in.

Odd glared at the sky, hoping that Jeremie would take a hint for once. Finally, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, touched the tower and…

Nothing. No vision, no anything.

He blinked and removed his paw from the tower. Odd sighed in relief. "Nothing…phew…"

" _Nothing as in a vision filled with nothing, or no vision at all?"_ Jeremie probed.

"No vision at all!" Odd cheered in relief.

" _Well…that's disappointing, I was hoping it could answer a nagging question I've had about that particular tower."_

And there went the relief. First ¼ of a Saturday, and now this? Odd groaned in dread.

"What kind of question?" Yumi ventured.

A sigh could be heard from the monitor as Jeremie reviewed the notes that the Professor had left behind, as well as his own observations. _"Alright, you guys know that Xanadu has ten towers, right?"_

"Kind of hard not to see them." Ulrich deadpanned.

" _Well, I've noticed that while the Specters swarm around the nine that have the same height…they never go near the tenth one. The High Tower. They just…ignore it for some reason."_

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "I've never noticed that."

"I'm still new to the whole thing." Odd grumbled. "Don't think I saw anything, because I didn't."

Jeremie pulled up Odd's picture, starting at it for a few seconds, before returning to his notes. _"I've been mapping out Xanadu for the past month, and I've been taking careful notes as to which tower was infected by specters. Mainly because there's no log of the attacks since…well…"_ His voice drifted off as he reviewed more notes.

Yumi snapped her fingers to get Jeremie to focus. "Well what? What's going on?"

" _Okay, to make a long story short, if we're going to make progress in disabling Xanadu, we need more data than what the Professor initially gave us, and I've decided that to do so, we need to find a way to access the towers ourselves. I'm completely locked out, but if they're data tunnels that the Specters use…then there might be a way for us to enter them too. That's the main reason we're going to have an outing on Sunday. I want to see if I can locate a method we can use to enter the towers."_

"What good does entering the towers do us?" Odd asked.

" _From the Professor's notes,"_ Jeremie explained, _"the towers are the main link between our world and the virtual world. The specters use these towers to gain access to ours. Thanks to my programming of the super-scan, I've determined that there may be a way to enter the towers, an access code of some kind. If I can discover that, then that means I'll have access to Xanadu's systems like never before! I'll be able to program a firewall to keep the specters out of the towers…"_

"And out of the real world?" Yumi guessed.

" _Exactly!"_ Jeremie replied.

"So…you mean we could be done with this by the end of next week?!" Odd exclaimed. "That's awesome! Now I'm actually looking forward to Sunday!"

Ulrich stared upwards. "Why do you think the town alleyways have the answer? Have you been on another conspiracy site?"

Jeremie rubbed his head sheepishly but was quite sure of himself.

" _Admittedly, yes. Remember, those sites are what helped direct us over to the factory to begin with. So, I figured that we might get a bit more information, and what stuck out to me was the underground technology business…and a certain rumor that leaked from there."_

"You honestly think a rumor is going to help us?" Ulrich asked.

" _They helped us discover the factory. No reason not to investigate ourselves. I'll send you guys a reading of what we'll be covering later tomorrow. I need to make sure I've got everything."_

"So how does this relate to the Empire State Building?" Odd asked, pointing to the High Tower.

"… _Now that…I don't know for sure…but the big giveaway that it works differently from the other towers is how I couldn't implement the super-scan onto it. The Professor's notes don't give any data, so I figured that first we study the nine 'normal' towers, as it were, before we try our hand at solving the mystery of the High one. It has to have some importance to Xanadu, but what it is I don't know for sure…Odd's visions are giving me a potential hypothesis to study…but I'd rather keep that on standby after Sunday before reaching a full conclusion."_

The samurai, Chesire Cat, and geisha were silent as they mulled it over. If Jeremie had nothing, then there wasn't much they could offer…not to mention that they would likely completely lose track of what he was saying after five more minutes. So, they thought back to a topic easier to discuss, and a thought came to Yumi's mind.

"Wait…you said that that thing was part Grim Reaper and part-sorceress?"

Odd turned from the sky to Yumi. "Um…yeah. Don't really see what's so complicated about it."

Yumi looked puzzled, "How do you know that it's a girl?"

Odd blinked, and scratched his head, deep in thought. Wait…why DID he know it was a girl? The picture he'd drawn didn't show anything that Odd could consider 'feminine' or 'girly'. Just a massive monster made of cables and metallic threads. He tried to recall the latest vision…but couldn't make anything out beyond the shining comet-light. All he knew was that the shadowy figure was a girl. He didn't know why, he just _knew,_ as if by instinct.

"Um…" he tried, "I was able to make out some bumps on the chest? I mean, a little bit bigger than your-"

Yumi's reply was pulling out a fan frame, ready to use it as a club. Odd also swore that he could hear Ulrich's knuckles cracking.

"Heh, well, you know…instinct? Maybe?"

"So…you don't know." Yumi said at last.

"No." Odd answered sheepishly.

Yumi sighed in exasperation and put the fan frame back. "We're not going to get anywhere with this are we?"

" _Again, we don't know too much. No point in trying to figure something we don't know anything about."_

"You're recording all of this right now!" Odd complained.

" _Yes, yes, I am."_ Jeremie confirmed, continuing his notes.

"Well…at this point…let's get back to training for now." Yumi commanded. "Let's get back to what we were doing before."

"Yup, you and Ulrich sparring!" Odd chuckled.

"You're not done with your current exercise yet." Yumi replied calmly.

"Whyyyyyy." Odd groaned.

The rest of the late afternoon passed by without further incident concerning creepy visions of doom and destruction. Odd managed to survive the second round of boulder dodging even though he noticed that Yumi was throwing them a tad faster than before. He still couldn't beat Ulrich in a sparring match though. According to Jeremie, who had timed it, Odd had managed to endure Ulrich's attacks for a second longer. Odd didn't know what was worse, how Jeremie seemed to earnestly believe that that was a record worth bragging about, or just trying to fight Ulrich in general. He was infinitely grateful for when the sparring shifted to Ulrich and Yumi, and when he was told to train in target practice. Neither of these required Odd to dodge projectiles or fists. Of course, he was still glad when it was all over and they could head back, with the exception of one, tiny problem…

"I. Am. Beat." Odd groaned, dragging his feet across the factory bridge as he smacked his lips. "Also, why isn't there any more water left in the fridge?"

Ulrich rolled his eyes. "We'll restock this weekend…if there's any money left."

Despite the exhaustion, Odd was defiant, "CURSE YOU SMALL-BOARDING SCHOOL ALLOWANCES! CURSE YOU!"

"Get over it." Ulrich deadpanned.

"If you scream, it'll just make things worse." Yumi supplied.

So, instead of screaming, Odd just groaned in response and kept it up the whole way back. Of the three virtual warriors, only Ulrich was displaying minor signs of annoyance via eye twitch. Yumi was used to people being brats, and Jeremie was too deep in thought about what to do about Saturday and Sunday that Odd's groaning had become background noise to him. Odd, for his part, did not stop groaning until he reached a vending machine, and downed a can of lemonade in a single go.

He smacked his lips. "Ah, much better."

"Never do that again or I will hurt you." Ulrich said, face remaining neutral.

"Oh, come on, I was thirsty!" Odd defended.

"Not an excuse. Don't do it again." Ulrich ordered.

"Sheesh, how much of a sense of humor do you not have?" Odd asked.

"None, by last count." A voice called, causing the four to turn around and see Hugo coming up towards them. "Something wrong?"

"Odd groaned all the way from the park to here. It was annoying." Ulrich replied, eyes narrowing.

"Really, now?" Hugo asked, pulling a few coins from his jacket pocket, looking at the group suspiciously. "I never took someone that scrawny for being physically active."

Odd crushed his empty can in annoyance. "I am SVELTE!"

"Sure, whatever." Hugo snorted. "Just let me get my drink."

A tense silence came across the quadrangle as Hugo slipped his payment into the vending machine, waited as he seemed to think about what he wanted to drink for 30 seconds, and hovered a finger above a button, before reconsidering and aiming for another. He seemed to be deliberately waiting for something.

Odd opened his mouth to speak, but…

" _Are you going to order or what?" Ulrich asked._

" _Depends, where were you guys?" Hugo growled._

" _At the park, where else?" Yumi countered._

_The tense silence remained, but not for long. Hugo turned to face the four, eyes narrowed into angry slits._

"… _You're hiding something. And you better tell me what it is. I don't care what Sebastian told me to do, you tell me right now. If this kills my little brother, there won't be anything left for you, so…"_

"Oh, hey, look!" Odd burst out, causing everyone to look at him. "Um, uh…" His eyes darted around the schoolyard, until he saw Milly and Tamiya trying to get interviews from a girl Yumi's age who had long brown hair, glasses, and a red shirt. Apparently the two had not been successful, and the girl rubbed her eyes in annoyance before leaving, leaving Milly's head to droop and Tamiya patting her on the back. "Oh, hey, LOOK AT THAT!"

"Do you honestly expect that trick to work Odd?" Hugo growled. "Pointing over to Milly and Tamiya won't get you out of this."

"Why are you pointing at us? What is it?" Milly asked, dashing over to the five like a hungry dog.

Speaking of dogs, Odd noted to get Kiwi his dinner. But, for now, he had to distract Hugo. "Oh, you know, news!"

Milly looked around. "There isn't any news. Wait, do you have something to say for the Kadic News about all of the videos concerning your-"

"Milly, we talked about this." Yumi replied sternly.

"No, no, I-I've got something!" Odd fibbed.

"Somehow I doubt that." Hugo scoffed, finally pressing a button for a can of Ramune, except nothing came out. "Oh, come on!" Hugo growled, kicking the machine, but to no avail.

At last, Jeremie spoke up, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Um, I think the machine is out of lemonade Hugo. Odd drank the last can."

"And that's the story!" Odd exclaimed. "'Vending Machine Runs Out of Lemonade!'"

Everyone fell silent at that. Odd's eyes dashed around, with everyone giving him incredulous looks…at least…until Milly pulled out her phone, and eyes widened as if she had remembered something. She immediately flicked around the touchscreen, before pulling out another notebook and flipped through the pages until she stopped at one. Then she looked at Odd, and then the vending machine.

"YES! YES! WE FOUND A SCOOP TAMIYA!" Milly cheered, hugging her friend tightly.

"W-wait, we did?" Tamiya choked, trying to get out of Milly's grip.

"Shortages of lemonade, remember?" Milly pointed out, revealing the notes she had taken on it. "Everyone's complaining about it! There's even talk about people paying 'under the table' to get some!"

"…Since when did lemonade get the Prohibition treatment?" Odd asked.

"Lots!" Milly said excitedly. "Ever since the Panic, stuff like Ramune lemonade has become _really_ popular, especially since they figured out how to put it in a can!"

"That is the exact opposite of noteworthy." Yumi said, but this just made Milly turn around to look at her with stars in her eyes.

Milly clasped Yumi's hands. "Yumi, can you help me and Tamiya with this scoop?! Please? I promise we won't ask Odd about his psychosis anymore!"

"I DO NOT HAVE PSYCHOSIS!" Odd shrieked.

"And you're doing a great job of proving otherwise." Ulrich snarked, a small hint of a smile coming across his face.

"Well, I mean…You are from Japan, right?" Milly asked, "So, you know all about this!"

Yumi looked a bit awkward at that, surprising Odd. He knew Yumi was from Japan, so why was she so hesitant about revealing it?

"Yes…" Yumi answered cautiously. "What? Do you want an interview?"

But this just seemed to make Milly giddier. Odd thought for a moment she was going to explode in a shower of rainbows…and immediately regretted the decision as the idea of a Xanadu specter came to mind and resulted in Milly exploding into a parade of rainbow-colored threads and needles as if she was a stitched-up ragdoll. ...Which, was...what? He shoved the idea out of his mind, he did NOT want that to become a thing after the demon teddy bear Jeremie told him about. Because it could become a thing, and Odd did not like things from Xanadu.

"Yes and no…" Milly breathed deeply, "but I want us to talk to Sebastian first! Come on!"

And she began to drag Yumi away, causing her to look at everyone else in confusion. Jeremie then snapped his fingers and began following them.

"Mind if I come with you? I need a request from Sebastian too for Sunday."

The Sunday trip into the so-called Alleyways of Boulogne Billancourt. Odd was already dreading it. But at least he had an excuse to get out of dodge.

"And I need to go feed Kiwi before dinner! See you all later!" Odd said, running off as fast as his legs could carry him.

That just left Ulrich and Hugo…but Ulrich quickly slipped away in the chaos before Hugo knew what had happened. The blue-capped boy blinked. That could've gone better. He grumbled to himself, randomly pressed another button and got himself a can of Coke-Cola.

"Better than nothing." He muttered to himself.

* * *

"You want me to do what?" Sebastian asked.

He had been leaving the group's underpass with a film reel that he had needed, before running into a strange group of people. Mainly because the idea of Jeremie being near Milly and Tamiya when they were snooping around for news was so bizarre, Sebastian had to wonder if he had stumbled into a parallel universe where stuff like that was a thing.

"Well, can you tell us where we can find one of those 'lemonade dealers'?" Milly asked. "We need them for a scoop! Oh, and if so, where we can find a way to get our hands on it! Oh, and maybe a crowbar!"

"…I'm just here to ask about a favor for Sunday." Jeremie said.

"Alright, alright people, one thing at a time! Belpois, you first." Sebastian grumbled.

"Those 'Alleyways' you keep on talking about. I'd like you to guide me through them. If I'm going to win the upcoming competition with Asimov, I'd like to know where I can get the best parts." Jeremie answered.

Sebastian nodded. "I get the horrible feeling that that's going to be the easy request…"

He turned to Milly, dreading the inevitable. "And Solovieff…"

"Okay, well, I tried to learn about 'Lemonade Dealers' last week, but I didn't figure anything out. Then I learned that the vending machines were running out of lemonade, and I thought we could make it a scoop, but I didn't know if we could, then Odd told us, and-" Milly ranted until Tamiya spoke up.

"Can you at least prove that they're a thing and how to deal with and/or find one?"

Sebastian rubbed his head. "Yes, they're a thing. But to be perfectly honest, they're harmless. Granted, demand for that stuff is…well…intense, but still, it's not that bad. What's so newsworthy about that?"

"Because we've never reported it before!" Milly cheered. "But it's really something! We're fulfilling our obligations as journalists! Revealing the truth to the world!"

Sebastian blinked, and looked at Jeremie and Yumi, before looking down at Milly and Tamiya again. "Uh, sure you are, Solovieff."

"Was that sarcasm?" Tamiya asked.

"Figure it out Diop. Figure it out." Sebastian breathed before looking at Yumi. "So what role do you play in all this?"

"Milly wants me for an interview, and…something else…" Yumi answered.

"Oh! Basically, could you, uh…well…fight them off in case we…uh…you know…" Milly mumbled, now looking at the ground and failing to suppress a tremor.

"Ah, protection." Sebastian nodded. "Well, are you planning on doing that Ishiyama?"

Yumi sighed. "Of course."

"Thank you, Yumi!" Milly cheered, hugging her tightly.

"…Nope, 'Teddy' was still more nauseating than this." Sebastian muttered to himself.

"Well, that seems to solve everyone's schedules!" Jeremie chirped, "I'm going to hit the lab for a few minutes!"

"Don't lose track of time." Yumi admonished.

"I won't!" Jeremie called as he walked down the sidewalk.

"He's going to lose track of time." Sebastian deadpanned.

"Yup"

"Probably"

"I'll tell Odd he can have Jeremie's portion."

"Della Robbia still has to buy his own snacks. Funds are getting tight." Sebastian reminded.

* * *

"Ugh…" Odd moaned, looking at his wallet and the kibbles he'd brought from home. "Funds are getting tight."

Being a dog, Kiwi paid this no mind as he (no pun intended) wolfed down his dinner. Odd watched with a light-hearted smile, then got back to his desk to do a few practice sketches. What to do about a subject for his art project…He could try revising an older project, or perhaps use a new one. He had plenty of inspiration from back home, and his new hometown could provide quite a bit of it. Then Odd's eyes wandered to the drawing of the dark figure.

Yeah…he was _not_ making a movie about that. Too conspicuous, and honestly, too terrifying.

He drew a few starting sketches for twenty minutes, but nothing was really coming to mind, so they came out as more scribbles than anything…though upon closer inspection, Odd knew what they actually were starting to look like: Him and the others fighting in Xanadu. Odd couldn't help but suppress another groan. Just one week, and he'd been thrown into something almost out of his league. Granted, he was kicking ass and taking names (When his new superpower wasn't on the fritz or showing him visions of the apocalypse), but it seemed that everywhere he went in the real world, the conflict in Xanadu seemed to spring up, even if there weren't any specters.

"I need something to clear my head faster…" he muttered.

He stole a glimpse around the room and sighed when he remembered that he'd have to leave his skateboard in the sewers, so…wait…Back up…Skateboard. A lightbulb went on in Odd's head and an excited grin came onto his face.

"Yes! That's just what I need! A day of skating! Need to find a skatepark though…wonder where I could find one?"

"You could just look it up on the internet." Ulrich said, lying down on the bed with a comic book.

Odd jumped and let loose a high-pitched shriek, causing Kiwi to growl in pain. "When did you get here?"

"Just now." Ulrich replied.

Odd panted, willing for his heart to beat again, while Kiwi looked at his owner with annoyance before resuming his meal.

"Okay, please don't do that again!" Odd demanded.

"Don't groan for ten minutes nonstop and we have a deal." Ulrich shot back.

"Deal!" Odd answered quickly, offering a hand to Ulrich, who raised an eyebrow.

"And that is…"

Odd blinked. Okay, Minor Anomaly #2; Ulrich not knowing what a handshake was. "A handshake. You know, to seal an agreement? I don't do any big groaning and you don't sneak up on me, that one?"

Ulrich's face was unchanged, but he responded with his hand and the two sealed the pact.

"Now then, back to before…I need to find a good skatepark." Odd said.

"Is that what you're doing tomorrow?" Ulrich asked.

Odd stretched his knees. "What? I consider myself a natural-born pro-skater! You know any of them?"

"No." Ulrich answered. "Just do it in the park or something."

"…Do you go out much?" Odd asked.

No reply. Odd sighed and looked at the time on his phone. Just as he did, his stomach grumbled. That only meant one thing.

"Welp, dinnertime!"

Ulrich grunted and followed. When the two reached the cafeteria, there was an absence of a certain blond boy with glasses. Odd wondered where he was, until Yumi explained that Jeremie was probably holed up in his urban lab in the underpass and that he got dibs on Jeremie's portion. The news made Odd drool as he obtained a double helping. He was extra-hungry after that practice-run in Xanadu, and made short work of his meal, leaning in his chair in comfort.

"…A minute fifty-five." Amare said, looking at his phone timer. "That's a new record."

"You've been timing him all week?" Yumi asked.

"He actually likes Rosa's cooking. Eating it that fast is a record." Amare replied.

"Hey, only the soup tastes like dishwater!" Odd protested. "Everything else is pretty great! Well, except for Wednesday when we had to eat plain boiled fish…and those steamed vegetables…"

"You've only been here for a week Della Robbia, give it some time." Sebastian deadpanned as he ate Beef Stew.

"Mmm." Hugo muttered, chewing in silence, while Charlie looked at the record in awe, much to Amare's amusement.

Unfortunately, Sebastian's response only made Odd snap his fingers as he realized something. "Hey, Sebastian, you're basically the 'Street Kid' here right?"

Sebastian glared. "I never agreed to that nickname."

"But it fits." Amare pointed out.

"Shut up, Arendse." Sebastian grumbled before re-focusing on Odd. "Let me guess, you want me to do something for you, Della Robbia? I had my hands full with Solovieff, Diop, and the absent-Belpois."

"I just want to know, are there any skateparks around here? I'm thinking of trying one out tomorrow after class." Odd asked.

"…Stick to the ones you get on first results Della Robbia." Sebastian warned. "I know of plenty others…but trust me, you don't want to go there."

Now Odd was curious. "Oh, come on, how bad could they be?"

"If you want to deal with the Black Knight of Asimov, go to them. Can't promise you'll come back alive though." Sebastian replied.

"…Black Knight of Asimov?" Odd asked. "Who the heck's that?"

"They say the knight hides in the cover of shadows…" Milly murmured. "Waiting to skewer reckless skaters and devour all of their hope…"

Everyone stared.

"…I'm just warning Della Robbia to look out for Knight. That chick's a demon on her board." Sebastian said slowly.

Odd's ears perked up. "Did you say, Knight? Also, chick?"

"Samantha Knight's her full name." Sebastian replied. "And like I said, she's a demon on her skateboard. She's a challenge seeker and has beaten a lot of skaters. Granted, about half of them are arrogant assholes, and on the plus side, she's one of the few girls at Asimov who hasn't been brainwashed by Dunbar's so-called 'charm'."

"So…she's single…" Odd muttered.

Sebastian repressed a laugh. "If you want to find Knight, I won't stop you. She tends to hang out in what they call 'Blue Screen Skate Park'. It's a treacherous place through and through though. If you value your body, do not go there."

"Could you give me directions?" Odd asked, seemingly ignoring the part about his body being broken. Ulrich and Yumi chalked it up to Odd planning to take advantage of the stamina boosts of Xanadu.

"I'll message them to you." Sebastian sighed. "But be careful Della Robbia, that place is near where Belpois wants me to take him, in the deeper parts of town not fit for the faint of heart."

"My heart is plenty resilient, I'll have you know!" Odd replied smugly.

No one bothered to dignify that with a response, and so they resumed eating. Odd settled into bed that night with a minor note of excitement. Finally, something he was truly looking forward to. Some time to himself, and an opportunity to explore a place that wasn't trying to kill him at every turn. Unless Xanadu started up or he ran into a hoodlum. He immediately shook that out of his head, after all, what was the worst that could happen?

* * *

" _Isn't this what you want though?" she asked, holding onto Odd's arm tighter._

" _Yeah but…there's something I have to do, something really important!" Odd replied._

" _More important than being with me?"_

_Odd swallowed. He really didn't want to leave this place. He wanted to be with her…but he knew that if they remained here…it wouldn't truly matter. He had to break out of it, break out of the temptation. Because if he didn't…she wouldn't have a real future. HE wouldn't have a real future. None of them would. It was hard…it was really hard. It would only be for a moment, if he was lucky of course. Failure would either mean death…or becoming one with…no. That wouldn't happen. Odd took a deep breath, and grabbed her shoulders as resolutely as he could…despite the fact that she was a whole deal taller than him._

" _Unfortunately, yes. I have to go now. But I'll be back, I promise."_

_And, suppressing the tears that threatened to form, Odd Della Robbia ran. He hoped he wouldn't turn back, like in the movies…but he couldn't help himself. One small look couldn't hurt, right? And it might reassure her too! But when he did, Odd's heart sank, and his mind froze in horror as his eyes caught the other presence that came down to her, embracing her with her wings as if to soothe her, lips brushed against her cheeks. She then looked at Odd with disapproval._

" _You left her alone like this? How cruel." She said with disdain, her unnatural eyes narrowing into deathly slits. "You're only digging yourself deeper…"_

_And then the world went black, and a terrifying scream filled Odd's ears…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another horrible vision of what is coming next! 
> 
> Because let's be honest, a lot of us can relate to that. I think. Maybe? No?
> 
> Either case, I hope you enjoyed! Before I go, here is a question I shall ask ye: "What do you consider the most wasted opportunity of Code Lyoko?" Leave your answer in the comments! Farewell for now!
> 
> -Epsilon Tarantula-


	7. Stumbling into Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend has arrived for our heroes...but proves itself to be more stressful than restful...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oi vey, the TROUBLE this particular File gave me. Let's just say that some parts never really felt like they gelled together with the setting, which was one of the main reasons this File went through some edits for tonal reasons.
> 
> Whether or not they worked, I'll leave it up to you.

_Garage Kids_

File 5.2: Stumbling into Trouble

"GAHHH!" Odd screamed in terror as he sprung up from his bed in a cold sweat, throwing Kiwi to the floor.

That was…new.

Odd gulped, wiping off the sweat that had built-up on his face, trying to stop himself from hyperventilating, oblivious to Kiwi's angry barking. That…that was a new kind of dream-vision. Everything was still fresh in his mind, a stark contrast to the previous dreams. He recalled being back home in Palermo, but…at the same time he somehow knew that it wasn't really Palermo. And there was a girl he was trying to comfort because he had to go…somewhere. But where did he have to go, and why did he have to go to this unknown place? Odd's mouth went dry and he stumbled towards his desk, sifting through some leftover sketches before he found the picture of the dark being once again, revealed to him through the light of the full moon.

Because in the last part of the dream…there was another girl, an angelic figure who had descended to comfort the girl Odd had had to leave behind, and lambasting Odd for his decision, as if he had crossed the line between good and evil. For a moment, Odd tried not to remember it, but he couldn't forget that one moment of clarity…

When he'd seen the second girl's eyes.

There was no color in the dream, Odd was sure of it. He could only make out black-and-white…but the eyes of that…person, for lack of a better word…they weren't normal. Thankfully for Odd's sanity, he couldn't remember why exactly they weren't normal. Unfortunately, that small fact didn't stop how his hand was still shaking, and by instinct, Odd reached for a pencil and began to sketch…or…well…doodle was closer to it. When he looked down, he saw that he had drawn on a piece of scrap paper a strange...emblem of sorts.

Odd swallowed nervously as he stared at the emblem, as if he wanted it to be burned into his vision, like a brand, and rubbed his eyes. No…no…he wouldn't get caught up in this…but…

"OW!"

Odd winced as he looked down and saw that Kiwi had bitten his foot, growling at Odd. The boy sighed as he bent down to pick the little dog up and took him back to the bed. "Sorry about that Kiwi…it's just…well…" Odd's voice trailed off.

Kiwi barked and licked Odd, who forced a cheeky grin on his face before yawning. "Right, right…they're just dreams. Let's get back to bed Kiwi."

And so, the spiked-hair boy went to bed…all while the moonlight shone on the emblem he had drawn…And while he didn't know it at the time; though perhaps he knew by instinct; that emblem would soon be haunting the Warriors in the days to come…

* * *

"What?" Ulrich asked, eyebrow raised in disbelief.

It was now Saturday morning, and everyone was preparing to start the half-day. Ulrich had woken up as usual, unable to block the stench of Odd's feet, but he'd at least managed to enjoy a quiet night, completely unaware of what had happened in the early hours. When he had woken up, Odd had quickly followed, but had paused to look at the sketches on the desk once again. Ulrich had inquired about it as Odd sent the photo of a new drawing to Jeremie, and now the two were walking down the hallway to the shower room.

"I'm not kidding you!" Odd panicked. "This dream was a lot weirder than the rest! First, I'm apparently rejecting this one girl like out of a cowboy movie, and then some creepy angel chick comes down and calls me an asshole for it!"

But in his excitement, Odd had not noticed where they were going…and had walked right into the path of Amare and Sebastian, who had fallen into earshot just as Odd had begun to explain.

"Cowboy movie?" Sebastian questioned, eyes still bleary from waking up.

"Creepy angel chick?" Amare asked, looking interested.

Odd's mouth snapped shut while Ulrich's body went subtly rigid. The entire scenario was now reeking of Odd saying too much this time around. The words: 'Security Breach' and 'Big Mouth' were swimming through Odd's head as he went over a possible deflection. And of course, Future Flash didn't go off to warn him about this! Because why should life become easier for him?

"Uh, well, you know…it was a weird dream, that's all!" Odd defended.

Sebastian's face remained flat, but curiosity was evidently seeping in. "I see…so why were you having a dream about a Western dame and an angel?"

Thankfully, Odd was able to truthfully answer the question. "I have no idea. Dreams are weird"

"…It's something to talk about for a Saturday morning at least." Sebastian grumbled, curiosity leaving his face as soon as it had appeared as he thought over his tasks for the day. "Belpois sent me your contact info last night, so I'll be texting you the information on those skate parks you wanted to go to when breakfast is over."

And with that, Sebastian entered the bathroom, but Amare remained in thought, looking at Odd and Ulrich with a dangerously knowing, but calm look. Then he entered the shower room as well, whistling a jaunty tune.

"Don't be so loud next time!" Ulrich whisper-hissed. "You're lucky they didn't get the context!"

"Not my fault Future Flash didn't go off!" Odd shot back quietly.

Thankfully, no one else in the shower rooms seemed to care, with the only amusing scene being Hugo having to catch Charlie as he ran around in the shower butt-naked. Odd couldn't help it and laughed, while everyone else had at most amused smirks on their faces, as they had seen this before and were used to it. It made the transition from awkward secret delving to morning bathroom hijinks much easier. It also helped that Jim made a sudden appearance corralling Jeremie into the shower rooms like a farmer leading a stubborn mule.

"Consider yourself lucky that you were awake when I found you Belpois!" Jim shouted as he stormed out of the bathroom. "Otherwise it would've been 4 hours of detention!"

Odd couldn't help but smirk seeing Jeremie be the one causing jeopardy to the mission. Hazardous perhaps, but at least Ulrich wouldn't be able to-

_Jeremie lay on the floor, blood leaking from his nose, screaming in pain from the force of the blow, with red, red, and more red surrounding him as…_

Odd's eyes bugged out of his head…And there went the levity. Because of course enjoying early morning humor resulted in ominous visions of doom…and…whatever that was. Odd's eyes swam as he clutched onto a sink and breathed…a vision with no context, just…a single image. Why was that a thing? What had just happened? Why was Jeremie grievously injured?

"Are you doing okay?" Jeremie asked, tapping Odd on the shoulder.

Odd spluttered as he backed away, suppressing a sudden surge of…anger? He wet his lips, the sudden emotion leaving, but Jeremie was notably bewildered.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, "you looked kind of…mad a few seconds ago."

Odd pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, no…I'm…fine."

The worry then seemed to leave Jeremie's face and he shrugged to get ready for the day. Odd left the shower room and slowly walked down the hall back to his and Ulrich's dorm room.

There were too many and too few things going on right now. First the nightmare of the two girls, then an imagining of Jeremie lying on the ground, injured from what was probably a punch to the face. Why he had had a vision of an injured Jeremie, Odd didn't know, and for right now, was not interested in knowing, as the day was getting troublesome enough. Finally, there was the stuff to do today: Deal with having classes on the weekend, and then enjoy himself by exploring the town on his skateboard, perhaps meeting the Samantha Knight character that Sebastian had talked about.

"I mean, what could happen today?" Odd chuckled grimly to himself.

As it would turn out: Plenty of things would happen on that Saturday. Some good, and some bad…

It all started with breakfast as Odd chowed down on another large helping of food, which Ulrich and Yumi tuned out as Jeremie looked over his phone, a pensive expression on his face. Odd drank his hot chocolate to wash it all down, and was about to eat another banana, when Jeremie tapped him on the shoulder and showed Odd what he was looking at.

"Very interesting, I have to say." Jeremie said.

Odd shoved Jeremie's arm away. "Personal space, Einstein! Look it up!"

Jeremie ignored Odd's response and placed his phone on the table, revealing a photograph of the sketch Odd had made the night before. Now that Odd was fully awake, he was able to actually study the details of the emblem. It was a simple drawing with several lines arranged around a large dot that to Odd, looked like a guy putting a crown on his head.

"Looks like a ball-in-a-cup toy." Yumi commented.

"More like a sword to me." Ulrich said.

Jeremie nodded in acknowledgment of these interpretations, then put the phone back in his pocket, looking around the cafeteria to make sure no one else was paying attention. He then turned his focus back to the group and whispered, "honestly, it looks more like a stylized silhouette of Xanadu to me."

Then it clicked for the three virtual fighters. All of them had seen the silhouette of Xanadu that formed on computer screens when the specters were on the move…and now that they thought about it…the sketch Odd had made _did_ look like the image. Granted, it was as Jeremie had noted, rather stylized, but the resemblance was definitely there, and it was uncanny. Yumi and Ulrich then slowly turned to Odd, whose mouth was hanging open as the spiky-haired boy attempted to process this.

"…what?" he finally squeaked, finding his appetite vanishing.

"It's just as I said." Jeremie answered. "Very interesting as to how your dreams are progressing…"

"He just dreamed about leaving some girl and then getting attacked by that girl's guardian angel friend." Ulrich deadpanned. "How is that progress from fighting the Grim Reaper at the end of the world?"

Jeremie frowned, putting a hand to his chin. "Hmm…well, considering prior details and some finer ones from this development- "

"Can we please save this for tomorrow?" Odd interrupted with a groan. "I'd rather NOT have to be the Prophet of Impending Doom for at least ONE day this week!"

"This is a potential avenue for me to investigate tomorrow." Jeremie argued. "I need to know what I have to focus on, especially with what we're up against."

"What more do you need for tomorrow?!" Odd hissed, trying not to let Sebastian hear from the other table.

Jeremie sighed, "Like I said, there's…some urban rumors I'm going to be checking out…and maybe a little bit of additional equipment I can get for myself. Your power might be helping out in this regard, so I need as much information as possible, even if it is from something abstract."

"Well, I can't tell you much." Odd groused. "Unless you want to give me some psychology lesson on dreams…"

"Something which I don't think we'll have time for." Yumi put in, looking at her phone.

"I won't need much for now." Jeremie reassured. "I don't have many questions."

Odd groaned, lying his head down onto the table and slowly chewed the banana he'd been about to eat. "Fine…shoot."

Jeremie nodded, then pushed his glasses into place. "When did you see this emblem?"

"I don't know!" Odd groaned. "I just…knew what it looked like, okay?"

Jeremie continued, "was there anything about the dream that stood out?"

"Besides everything?" Odd asked.

"Well, if that is the case, then-" Jeremie began, but Odd interrupted.

"No! No!" He said, straightening his body up hastily. "Look, the only thing that really stood out was…the angel girl's eyes. There, happy?"

Jeremie nodded, seemingly considering this. "Did you see the symbol in her eyes, or was there something else that stood out?"

Odd rubbed his head. He really did _not_ want to remember the other girl…but to be honest, now that he thought about it…he couldn't get why he thought the girl's eyes had been unnatural. He was able to make out the symbol…but he didn't know where or if he'd actually seen it in that particular vision. He knew for a fact that he didn't see it in her eyes though, so…

"It was something else." He answered firmly. "The symbol…I just…knew what it looked like. I didn't actually see it, or at least, I don't think I saw it." Odd ate the rest of the banana before capping off. "And that's all I know Jeremie. I don't know anything else, and I really don't WANT to remember anything else about it that I don't know off the top of my head."

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other. They'd only known Odd for a week, but in that time, he'd shown himself to be a rather…loud individual, for lack of a better term. Whether he was complaining, or enjoying himself, he'd always seemed to be very bombastic. Not even when his powers had gone out of control had he been quiet unless it was a situation he couldn't avoid without lasting consequences. The fact that he had deflated remembering that dream was…actually quite worrying. Especially since he'd called Jeremie by his actual name and not the nickname he'd crafted. That…that was notable.

Yumi cleared her throat. "Jeremie, if Odd can't remember anything else, let's not push him anymore, okay?"

"Well, I do have some theories that…" Jeremie began but…

"Jeremie." Yumi said simply, glaring at the bespectacled boy. "Is it really important for us to know right now, or can it wait until you've completed our plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, it isn't _really_ critical, but it's still good to cover all of our angles." Jeremie defended.

"Can it wait?" Yumi asked.

"Well, again, it isn't critical, so-"

"So, it can wait."

Jeremie huffed. He'd be wanting to get a bit more info than that…but considering how everyone was now reacting to his inquiries, it didn't look like he'd be making any more progress. So, sighing in defeat, the bespectacled boy shifted gears to another topic.

"Okay…at the very least though, I do want to give some details as to our game plan for today."

"I thought we didn't have to do anything today!" Odd protested, before remembering that he had classes in the morning and proceeding to drink the contents of his dipping bowl to ignore that point.

Jeremie shrugged. "Technically no, but I do want to give you guys a heads-up. I'll be sending you all a document draft of our strategy for tomorrow later this afternoon. Study the plans, and at least be able to engage in minor coordination with each other. It's nothing complex but should still be reviewed. I also want to share some of my findings with you guys, so expect that to be bundled in as well."

"Got it." Ulrich replied, while Yumi nodded and Odd gave a thumbs-up.

"And with that," Jeremie finished, looking at his phone, "it's time for classes."

As he got up, Odd looked and saw that Jeremie's tray was still full. "Okay if I can have your portion? It's a pity to waste a good meal…not to mention I'll consider it payment for that little interview I gave you."

"Huh? Oh, breakfast. Help yourself."

A mischievous grin came upon Odd's face as he transferred the contents of Jeremie's tray to his own and began wolfing the meal down. Ulrich and Yumi watched as Odd cleared the contents rather quickly and let out a loud, long burp.

"Ahhh…That was good." Odd smiled with satisfaction.

"Can I extend that deal we made with groaning to burping?" Ulrich asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Please do not do that again!" Sebastian called from his table. "The only reason Abel the Younger gets away with it is because he's younger!"

And right on cue, Hugo's younger brother let out his own burp, though it was significantly shorter and quieter.

"It's cuter when he does it." Tamiya commented from her shared table with Milly.

"Only slightly." Milly added. "Like, really slightly."

Hugo glared at Odd. "Don't do that again! He's picked up enough bad habits as it is!"

"First time I've heard you of all people complain about bad influences." Amare chuckled.

"Amare!" the capped-boy hissed.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and got up from his chair, walking past the Xanadu Warriors' table and throwing away the remains of his breakfast. He drew his phone from his pocket, looked over something on the screen, and hit 'send'. Odd's phone then buzzed with a notification. Sebastian began to leave the cafeteria, nodding to Della Robbia in confirmation.

Odd nodded back, and then looked at the text, nodding as he looked at the addresses and read off the names. "Porcelain Skating, Rodin Park, Billancourt Park, some public places with community nicknames…" He then checked where they were on his phone's map, and his eyes widened. "Um, guys?"

"What?" Yumi asked.

"Some of these places are pretty close to the factory…like this one…" Odd began, but Yumi cut him off.

"Billancourt Park, we know. Why do you think we used that as an excuse when Hugo asked about it?"

"So…if we're heading out, that place is the fall back cover story?"

"Yes."

Odd ran his tongue along his teeth as he looked at the other addresses, looking for one address in particular until he saw it. "Yes! There it is!"

"Blue Screen Skate Park?" Yumi asked.

Odd nodded with intrigue. "Forget Billlancourt Park, _this_ place is where I wanted to go!"

"Because you want to meet Samantha Knight?" Yumi asked dully.

"Well yeah!" Odd replied without a hint of guilt, shame or embarrassment.

Yumi rolled her eyes. "Well, that's certainly a pure, noble reason to learn more about your local neighborhood. Odd, tell me exactly what is in that skate-park?"

"Um, let me see here…" Odd muttered, fiddling with a link Sebastian had sent. "Hmm…says here it used to be called the Killer Skate Park of the Dead, then apparently someone decided to rename it a year after the Billancourt Panic because he thought that the name was dumb."

"That name? Dumb?" Ulrich deadpanned.

"Sarcasm?" Odd asked rhetorically. "Well…yeah…I'll admit that name does sound over-the-top. Still don't know why whoever renamed it chose 'Blue Screen' though…I mean, I'm seeing a lot more yellow than blue here."

Yumi sipped the rest of her hot chocolate. "Anything else?"

"A few photos here and there…and…wow this place looks dark…the only blue I'm seeing is on the entrance sign and some of the graffiti."

Odd then set his phone down on the table to let Ulrich and Yumi check the preview photos for themselves.

What they saw made Xanadu look pleasant (Though whether or not it was safer than Xanadu was probably something they'd have to ask Odd about if he came back in one piece). At least whoever designed the virtual world was trying to make something that at least looked like a scenic taiga with other forest biomes smoothly integrated into it, even with the towers dotting the landscape. Blue Screen Skate Park looked more like an enormous polluted junkyard masquerading as a skate park, with quarter-pipes, half-pipes, and bowl channels covered with grime and graffiti. There was also the tiny factoid that the sky seemed to be a consistent, dark, sick shade of yellow in every picture Odd showed them.

"It's big." Ulrich said flatly.

"I know!" Odd cheered. "Seriously, why would no one want to go there? It's the biggest skate-park I've ever seen!"

Yumi facepalmed. "Odd, it looks like every crime scene in the world distilled into one skate park. Only crazy people would want to go there."

"I joined up with you guys and haven't quit on this yet!" Odd responded. "So therefore, I'm eligible to go!"

"He's not wrong." Ulrich admitted as he got up.

Yumi rubbed her forehead. "Just don't end up getting splattered on the ground or stuck in a ditch, okay?"

"I had to survive you and Ulrich," Odd countered, "I think I can handle one little, well, big, skate-park."

Yumi and Ulrich rolled their eyes, and the three split off for their Saturday classes.

* * *

As Saturday lessons took place on half-days, the school's policy was to alternate periods for each week of classes, with odd-numbered periods for one week, and even-numbered periods for the next before switching back to the odd-numbered and so on and so forth. For Odd, that meant that he got to deal with gym in the morning, along with Jeremie and Ulrich of course…but more problematically, with Amare and Hugo, the latter of whom was constantly glaring at Odd all throughout the period.

Finally, when exercise was over, Jim sat the children onto the bleachers, explaining activities. Odd had no real interest in any of them and tuned them out, only listening to half of what Jim was saying until:

"Next on the agenda, those of you on the Kadic Baseball team, raise your hands!"

Odd noticed that Amare and Hugo were among these people…and then the reason for Jim's call became clear as he continued. "Alright, alright…good!" the burly teacher muttered before raising his voice again. "Now, I want to inform you that whatever you were planning for the weekend is gone! Kaput! Never to return! The instant today's classes are over, you will be attending an emergency baseball drill practice for this afternoon, tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday, to lather, rinse, and repeat your skills so we can show those fops at Asimov what we at Kadic are made of!"

"WHAT?!" Hugo spluttered loudly, causing everyone to look at him.

"Is that a problem, Abel?" Jim growled.

"Well, I mean…" Hugo tried to excuse himself, but Jim was having none of it.

"Do you want us to lose to Asimov like last year?!" Jim ranted angrily. "May I remind you of the humiliating defeats we suffered? If it wasn't for Stern over there eking out a win in martial arts, we would've have a zero percent win rate in every sporting event there was! We lost to Hellison, Abel, _Hellison_ of all schools!"

Amare raised his hand, trying to calm Jim down by changing the subject. "It's not going to be like last year's…boot camp, is it?"

"Well…considering all of the trouble we had with it, unfortunately, no." Jim answered, "and anyways Principal Delmas has forbidden me to take anyone out on off-campus activities without doubled permission slips anyways until further notice. We'll be on-campus during these three-and-a-half days, this time without rampant wild boars making me wish I'd brought a reserve supply of Caribou- "

"Sir, yes sir!" Amare hastily interrupted to make sure that Jim wouldn't talk about _that_ particular topic, standing up in salute.

Jim nodded in approval. "You see, Abel?" he directed at Hugo, "that's the kind of enthusiasm I'm looking for! You should learn more from your friend! Now then, onto the next order of business… "

And Jim began to drone on once again. Odd, for his part, was curious. A piece of background gossip that he'd not heard of? Common sense told him to stay away from Amare due to how easy it seemed to leak the secret of Xanadu…but he seemed more easy-going than Hugo was and Odd wasn't having any ominous death-visions…so what was the harm?

"Psst...um, Amare, right?" Odd whispered.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Amare said casually, pushing away Hugo, who had opened his mouth to retort. "What is it?" the dark-skinned boy asked, scooting over closer to the three Xanadu Warriors, leaving his companion to stew by himself.

"…What happened last year? I'm curious, and I don't think Ulrich over there is going to tell me." Odd replied.

"Wasn't planning on it." Ulrich put in.

"It never really came up until now." Jeremie said with a shrug.

"Okay…" Amare said, putting a hand to his chin. "How familiar are you with the other schools in the region?"

"Sebastian told me about Asimov and Hellison existing…but other than that, nothing. I've only been here a week." Odd answered.

"Okay, well, you know about school spirit, and how that leads over to school rivalries? Well, Asimov Institution and Hellison Boarding School are the rivals of Kadic Academy." Amare explained. "Asimov and Kadic take it really personally with each other, while Hellison just tends to sit back and watch the unfolding chaos before taking on the winner, or the loser, depending on how well they do."

"Well, I figured it was something close to that," Odd admitted, "but why did Kadic lose in all of the sporting events except for Ulrich's specialty last year?"

At this, Amare quietly groaned as he remembered, while Ulrich folded his arms, clutching at his shoulders tightly. "Jim had the 'brilliant' idea of arranging a boot camp for all of us, using his 'military experience'." The dark-skinned boy revealed. "It was horrible. He sent us over to a distant forest a few miles off-campus and had us do exercises that felt more like torture."

Odd shivered. The idea of physically straining his body like that sounded…unpleasant, especially considering that he was in a situation where he had no choice _but_ to do that kind of training.

"Not to mention how risky it is." Jeremie put in, as if he was reading out of an encyclopedia. "A training session like that can tear apart muscle fibers if the body isn't used to it."

"Yeah…we were sore for days." Amare flinched. "The only one of us who wasn't completely crippled was Ulrich, and that's because he's a freak of nature who recovered before the rest of us did. The worst part is that we were only half-done with it all when the…incident happened."

"Incident?" Odd asked.

"Jim managed to piss off a wild boar and got his leg broken, so we got to call it off." Amare answered. "A few weeks after the whole mess was over, he went into a tangent about rubbing Caribou…droppings on everyone the next time he arranged a trip like that."

Odd suppressed the urge to vomit, the idea was utterly revolting, and he prayed that Xanadu did not ever influence any raw sewage. The thought almost made him lose his breakfast.

"I tried convincing Jim to use mint leaves instead," Jeremie mused, "but he said that Caribou waste lasts longer, and while I did research that-"

"Jeremie, shut up." Ulrich ordered.

Odd was grateful for Ulrich speaking up before he did… because he was still on the verge of vomiting and knowing that Jeremie nearly contributed to something like that was…while honestly not that shocking, still gross as hell. Speaking of Ulrich…that accomplishment of his piqued Odd's interest as well, but for better reasons this time around, and he really wanted to switch away from the topic of Caribou poop.

"So…Ulrich took home the gold then? Good for you, man!"

"He was actually _smiling_ then." Amare remembered. " _That_ was the big shocker."

"It wasn't that much of a big deal." Ulrich mumbled, suddenly looking bashful.

"Why are you so embarrassed by that?" Odd asked, "that's awesome! You took home the gold when everyone else was down for the count, man! Lighten up!"

Ulrich remained silent on the matter. Jeremie and Amare, having a good idea of why, followed suit. The sudden silence was rather jarring for Odd, and the conversation thread just…fell away as class ended.

"Let's save that topic for another day." Jeremie finally said as they left the bleachers.

A topic Jeremie was quiet about? That was something. So Odd said nothing as he got up from the bleachers to finish off the remaining classes, but as he got up, his foot was caught in the overhanging metal of the bleachers and he tripped. Odd grasped to recover, and managed to grab onto Ulrich's shoulder to steady himself, but when he did so…

_Ulrich wiped the sweat from his brow, after practicing his current form. Next came endurance exercising, so he turned his attention to the punching bag, before hearing a sarcastic clapping. Ulrich whipped his head around, fighting instincts activating, and saw Sebastian standing in the entrance, leaning against the wall._

_Ulrich's face remained unchanged, even as Sebastian walked into the room._

" _Hey Stern…mind if we have a little…chat?"_

"Odd, get off my shoulder." Ulrich grumbled, propping Odd upright and walked down to the ground.

Odd's eyes blinked dully, before he rubbed them and immediately recognized the potential hazard. Quickly, he jumped down the bleachers, skipping the footing steps until he reached the ground and caught up to Ulrich. The brown-haired boy rose an eyebrow as Odd's eyes darted back and forth, keeping an eye out for eavesdroppers.

"Now what is it?" Ulrich asked. "I'm not in the mood to talk right now."

"A vision." Odd replied curtly. "You in some kind of subway gym, and then Sebastian shows up interrogating you."

"…It's my space in our hideout." Ulrich deadpanned, but Odd's information had put him on guard regardless.

"Potato, potahto, you got a way to avoid him?" Odd asked.

"I'll just go train in the park." Ulrich answered. "Might as well make yesterday's excuse make sense."

"I guess that would work…" Odd said quietly, receiving no visions of anything happening at the park.

But then again, considering how Future Flash didn't seem to cover _every_ avenue, he couldn't help but be a tad worried for a few moments…And he was right to be worried, though he received no reinforcements for it for the rest of the school day. Classes passed by without further incident or complexities, and as such, when Odd left his last one, he felt light-hearted and walked out of class with a spring in his step, heading straight for his room to grab Kiwi, excited laughter and the occasional murmur of seeing the so-called 'Black Knight' leaving his mouth like a broken dam.

The same, however, could not be said for Yumi.

She had just gotten out of the classroom, and began to walk across the quadrangles, seeing Odd run off giddily and Jeremie immediately head to his room, where he would likely hole himself up in for the entire day unless he ran off to the factory or his hideout laboratory. Yumi, for her part was just going to grab herself a drink…only to remember what she'd agreed to help the _Kadic News_ reporters with. It was good that she did remember when she did, as it was then that she saw Milly running up to her like a crazed rabbit, Tamiya trying and failing to catch up to her.

"Milly…wait…" Tamiya groaned as she staggered over.

"S-sorry Tamiya!" Milly exclaimed, helping her friend over. "But it's time! It's finally time! Here we come world, we're going to get ourselves a scoop!"

Yumi just looked at the scene with a mix of bewilderment, amusement, and silently dreading just what she'd signed up for. She coughed to get the younger girl's attention. "So, do you have a plan for what we're going to do?"

Milly opened her mouth to speak…and then realized that she…really didn't have much of a plan.

"Um…well…" she deflated, "Sebastian said that they hung out in town…so, I figured we'd…just…ask…around?"

Tamiya face-palmed while Yumi gave a heavy sigh.

"Milly, you're going to need a better game-plan than that." She gently admonished. "You can't just go into town and think that they'll just give you the answers. Trust me when I say that it really doesn't matter how old or what size you are, but people don't give up their secrets that easily if it doesn't benefit them."

"Well…Sebastian was the one who told us that the lemonade dealers existed. Maybe we could go ask him for more help?" Tamiya suggested.

Milly spun around. "Yes! That's a great idea! Let's call him!"

And so, the maroon-headed girl dialed Sebastian's number.

" _What?"_ an irritable voice asked on the other end.

"Sebastian, could you maybe, point us out to a place where we could find the lemonade dealers? We…kind of don't know where to start out…" Milly said.

A loud groan was heard on Sebastian's end. _"All right, but I'm doing something right now. Meet me at Billancourt Park in about 40 minutes, and I'll give you a rough estimate of where to start."_

"Thank you, Sebastian!" Milly replied, only to hear the buzzing caused by Sebastian hanging up. Unfazed, she turned around dramatically. "To the park!"

She began to march when Yumi coughed.

"It might be better for us to bring some supplies." She pointed out.

"…I knew I was forgetting something…" Tamiya groaned as she quickly grabbed Milly and the two set off.

Yumi sighed as she followed them. This was going to be a LONG day.

* * *

"You see anything yet Kiwi?" Odd asked as he climbed up the sewer ladder, having retrieved his skateboard. The spiky-haired boy had decided to take Kiwi along with him for his little adventure, a practice that the little dog had long grown accustomed to from back home.

Kiwi barked in the negative, and after taking a quick last minute spot-check himself, Odd quickly threw his board onto the ground and climbed out of the sewers. He immediately picked up his skateboard and ran from the sewer entrance as fast as he could. No point in getting caught by accident. Kiwi was not too far behind his owner as he made himself scarce, and once Odd was sure they were out of the danger zone, he sat down on the ground to put his helmet and pads on, while also putting Kiwi on his leash so the little dog would be able to follow him.

Just as Odd finished putting Kiwi's leash on, a vision quickly flashed before his eyes. There wasn't much to notice in the orange-tinted scene, aside from the front gates of Kadic being crowded with kids, eager to escape school and head outside to do whatever they pleased. However, Odd did see Ulrich in the crowd, and not too far behind was Sebastian, who was slipping in whatever spaces became available in the crowding in an attempt to catch up to Ulrich.

The vision ended, causing Odd to rub his eyes. He wondered if he would ever get used to what was still a somewhat disorienting experience. He really wasn't in the mood for the vision parade from earlier in the week to return for an encore performance after all. He also wondered if Ulrich would be able shake Sebastian off, but considering that Ulrich had super-speed, there probably wasn't much to worry about on that end. So Odd had a few minutes to wait before the schoolyard cleared up. That left him wondering how to plan the day out.

He checked his phone again, looking at the location Sebastian had marked that indicated where Blue Screen Skate Park was. The Park was about a 15-minute drive from Kadic, and on skateboard, it would probably take Odd about 45 minutes or so. On the topic of driving however, Blue Screen Skate Park, as it turned out, was isolated and off-road, with only a few stray sidewalks leading to it. Meaning that it would still take additional effort to get there, even with the nearest parking lot.

So, Odd gave himself about 50-65 minutes to get there…and hopefully see if this 'Black Knight of Asimov' was the real deal. If she wasn't…well…he had nothing better to do today, so he might as well see what Blue Screen had to offer. He planned to be outside until dinner, so he might as well make the most of it. Kiwi growled as he stretched his body, which reminded Odd to look for food establishments that were nearby, since Yumi had revealed to him on Thursday that Lunch was not served in the cafeteria on weekends, a fact proven when no one had entered or crowded around the cafeteria when classes had ended.

Odd blamed budget cuts for that one.

Odd quickly noticed a fast-food joint was nearby and breathed a sigh of relief. He checked his pockets. Just enough for a burger and fries, and an additional order he could use for Kiwi. Everything checked out. He looked at the time on his phone. It had been around five minutes, so Odd expected the crowd to have cleared up.

He whistled to Kiwi to get the little dog's attention and soon, dog and owner were on the path out of Kadic. As expected, the crowd had thinned out significantly, with students either laying down on the grass or heading out into town. Odd stood at the entrance, and checked his phone again, looking at the route to Blue Screen Skate Park. He noticed that were going to be a lot of turns he would have to take before he reached his destination and groaned.

"How many times am I going to have to check my phone before I get there?"

Then, more flashes of orange appeared before Odd. He was tempted to panic for a moment as the visions came about…but he was reminded of how they had manifested when he was fighting the larger Specter in Xanadu on Tuesday…and like magic, the visions started clearing up. Odd at first had had no idea what they were…but then realized that they were him taking turns and dodging potential hazards along the way. He realized just what that meant when the visions ended, and he snickered to himself.

"Well, what do you know, Future Flash CAN be useful!"

Kiwi barked impatiently, wondering if his owner was going to start or not. Odd looked down and smiled.

"It's a magical world out there, Kiwi old buddy, let's go exploring!" Odd declared, and he immediately started riding down the dull-grey streets, Kiwi running close behind, tethered by his leash. The little dog was used to this sort of routine, and with a speed most would not expect, was neck-and-neck besides his owner as he began his trek to Blue Screen Skate Park.

Odd was thankful that the route he needed avoided all pathways to the underpass. He really didn't want to cross Sebastian's path right now, and besides, Ulrich had to deal with him already. But thoughts of Ulrich versus Sebastian soon left Odd's mind as he began making the proper turns to reach his destination, the occasional vision manifesting to help guide him through the sprawling city. Now that he was properly in his element, where he didn't have to deal with school, and he wasn't being attacked by cybernetic demon programs, Odd felt himself more easily able to sort through whatever visions were occurring at the moment whenever his path changed. He made the turns easily and checked his speed to make sure Kiwi was near him at all times. For once, it seemed everything was going Odd's way!

And then of course, he just HAD to deal with another pratfall.

_Odd had reached another corner. The streets had not been busy at first but were starting to roar to life as people either got off work early or headed out for lunch. A large rig was just up ahead on the street, coming down in the direction Odd was going, but since the signal wasn't on as it neared the corner, Odd had no reason to fear it._

_Then a small metallic thingamabob rushed down the sidewalk, and hit Odd's skateboard just as he began to turn the next corner. Odd screamed as he ran into the street to steady himself…but ran straight into the big rig's path and…_

Odd blinked, and he immediately skid to a halt, grabbing Kiwi so that he wouldn't become a casualty as well. Kiwi barked as Odd quickly tugged him back, annoyed by the sudden restriction of air. Odd let out a cry of 'Gangway!' as he immediately used a heel brake technique, stopping just before the corner, just as a small metallic thingamabob on four wheels rolled into his path...at the exact moment Odd was putting his skateboard back to level.

"NOOOOO!" A nasally voice cried out in horror as Odd's skateboard slammed on top of the…thing, hitting it on the edge of its platform-like base. The rolling metal contraption still had some momentum when it tipped over, and as a result it slid into the street…immediately getting crushed by the big rig as it drove down the road. The driver, a brown-haired male wearing a red jacket, didn't seem to notice and kept on driving.

Odd breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he wasn't the one being crushed. Then he turned and saw the source of the voice.

Two boys were running down the sidewalk. One of them was a boy just a few inches shorter than Ulrich, with pale orange hair, wearing a periwinkle jersey with the number '8' on it, and a pair of red shorts, which exposed how one of his socks was rolled up, while the other barely made it past his shoes, which were colored a light grey. The other boy, who was the one who had let out the cry of horror, was a pimply-faced boy with black-and-grey hair, wearing a green sweater and long, brown pants with loafers. He also wore glasses that, somehow, were larger than Jeremie's.

The pimple-faced boy stopped at the corner, looking at the mangled mess of parts that littered the streets. "My Iron Herb! You bastard, you've destroyed my robot!"

Odd took a closer look at the mess on the streets. Indeed, it _did_ look like a robot…and with its green-and-black paint-job along its 'arms' and 'head'…Odd figured out who the boy had used as a reference model when designing it. Not that he was able to dwell on that point any longer, as the green-sweater boy tried to grab Odd by the collar. _Tried_ being the operative word because Kiwi immediately bit the stranger's hand the instant he got too close for comfort.

"ARGH!" the pimply-faced boy yelled, before backing into the Stop sign with a loud CLANG and slumping onto the ground, groaning in pain.

Odd had always prided himself in figuring out what people were like at first glance to at least gain some idea as to what they were like: Jeremie was an enigmatic kook, Ulrich was a quiet fighter, Yumi some kind of sensible figure, Milly and Tamiya were nosy journalists, Amare was calm and laidback, Sebastian was a bucket of snark, and Hugo was an overprotective big brother.

The boy whose robot Odd had wrecked, in lieu of _it_ indirectly wrecking Odd, seemed to be an even more stereotypical nerd than Jeremie was, and looked mountains more pathetic. Odd found Jeremie to be rather…disturbing at times and given what he had been told about what the computer whiz was like overall, probably would've found him a bit creepy even if Xanadu wasn't a factor in their lives. This kid, on the other hand, seemed about as threatening as gum left on the sidewalk.

The other boy knelt down to check on his friend. "Are you okay, Herb?" he asked.

"No, I'm not Nicholas!" Herb whined as he got up. "That…guy or…girl, or…whatever just smashed the Iron Herb!"

Odd was defiant. "Okay, first off, I'm a guy! Second, that thing would've crashed into me either way! I didn't know that someone was sending robots barreling down the street like bulls on a run! At least this way I don't get squashed under a truck! Better 'Iron Herb' than me!"

Herb was furious, an angry tick in his eye. "Well, maybe next time you should take some other way, if you're so sure about what the future's like!"

Odd declined to comment on the irony of that, and was just about to retort, when Nicholas put himself between Odd and Herb.

"Herb, maybe we shouldn't get into another fight this week?" he asked. "I mean, I'm still feeling that stomach bruise that Hellison girl gave me yesterday, and we almost got into a fight with you-know-who this morning, so, uh…" Nicholas turned to Odd. "Sorry about that."

Odd breathed. Well, at least he wasn't dead. "Apology accepted."

Herb, for his part, continued to grumble, and after checking both sides of the street, went to collect his flattened and mangled robot. While he did so, Nicholas continued to explain the situation to Odd. "You see, there's this inter-school competition going on, so Herb's trying to test out his robot anyway he can…but the problem is that we can't find a good practice course, so he's trying to use the town streets to get ready."

"Share my life story, why don't you." Herb huffed as he returned to the sidewalk, the Iron Herb's remains gathered up in his arms.

"What school do you go to by the way?" Nicholas asked. "I've never seen you around before."

"Kadic Academy." Odd replied. "You two?"

"Asimov Institution." Nicholas answered.

"Hmm, Competition, competition, where did I hear about that again…" Odd mumbled before snapping his fingers in remembrance of what Amare had explained to him, "oh, _that_ competition! I've only just heard about it, new to town and all. I think…Jeremie won last year's robotics part? Might want to ask him about that again…"

Herb's eyes widened as Odd's last answer registered in his head, and he nearly dropped his robot. "D-did you say…Jeremie? As in…Jeremie Belpois?"

"Um, yeah?" Odd replied. "He's in the same grade as me, and we share a few classes. Not the worst kind of guy around, but-"

"Not the worst, NOT THE WORST?!" Herb roared, throwing the Iron Herb's remains onto the ground. "He's the absolute worst person in the entire universe! Always managing to beat me, always getting ahead, and it's always with the same damn condescending smile as if he thinks that he IS better than me! And you know him?!"

Odd backed away, now a bit disturbed by how quickly Herb's mood had changed from neurotic to psychotic.

"Where is he today?" Herb growled, looking like he was about to start foaming at the mouth. "I've had half a mind to finally settle the score with that bastard once and for all!"

"Hell if I know!" Odd replied, backing away from the boy in the green sweater. "Last time I saw him he was just heading back to his room! I'm just going out for skateboarding with my dog!" Kiwi barked accordingly. "And even if I did know, why would I tell you if it looks like you'd give Einstein rabies or something?"

Herb's eyes twitched, and he turned away, face turning dark. "Einstein…he's gotten to the point where he's obtained the name of one of the famous scientists in the world as a title? Nicholas, we're going back to the dorms for now! After that, I know where I can get the parts to fix the Iron Herb. While we're doing that, we'll be doing some…hunting."

Nicholas whispered over to Odd. "He's just going to challenge him to a robot fight. He likes to think he and Jeremie are rivals."

"…And he's clearly doing well thinking about it like that." Odd said, seeing Herb walk up the streets, hands twitching in madness.

"Yeah, well…he's still my friend." Nicholas said with a wistful sigh. "So, I'll be keeping an eye on him. Nice meeting you by the way!"

And with that Nicholas took off after his companion.

Odd and Kiwi looked at each other. A new parade of visions danced before Odd, showing off an alternate route that could avoid Herb and his craziness. Once Odd was sure he had figured out the twists and turns, he turned around, and started off on his skateboard once more, Kiwi close behind.

"Ugh, can't I go one day in this town without running into crazy people?" Odd grumbled.

* * *

There were many things Ulrich Stern was not a fan of. He wasn't planning to list them, since there were quite a few things that ticked him off, but one of them was definitely having to deal with annoying tailgaters. For a literal example, his father had a terrible temper, so whenever a tailgater showed up, he would immediately start ranting. Alternatively, it was the old woman his father tended to hire as a tutor over the winter breaks, whom Ulrich found horrendously boring and droll, but slightly more pleasant to deal with than his old man. 'Slightly' being the key word of course.

Unfortunately for Ulrich, Sebastian was not an old and somewhat senile woman.

That being said, Ulrich had already come up with a plan to avoid Sebastian, who he knew was probably behind him. He had no plans to look behind himself however, as that would just validate Sebastian's suspicions, confirming that Ulrich was hiding something, so instead, Ulrich stopped for just a moment, and pulled out his phone's stopwatch app. He made a show of pressing the button, starting from zero, and then took off at his regular speed. The path to the underpass was relatively straight, so he wouldn't be able to activate Super-Sprint right away without being seen, but Ulrich was easily the faster runner of the group even without Xanadu.

Sebastian's eye ticked as he saw Ulrich take off, and he immediately picked up speed. He was _not_ going to lose track of Stern, risky as his idea of confronting the martial artist was. He already had suspicions about the task Jeremie had asked of him, and like he had told Abel the Elder, he knew fully well that whatever the situation was like, it was deteriorating and/or developing at a fast pace. Whatever secrets Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and the new kid were keeping were on the verge of being discovered, and Sebastian was determined to find out…but hopefully not at the cost of his life. After all, whether or not Ulrich spilled the beans, Sebastian did not want tomorrow to end with him lying on the ground, bleeding thanks to a metal robot claw tearing out his insides.

Wait, no, that was the nightmare of Teddy he was thinking about. Focus Toup, focus, Sebastian told himself.

Sebastian still trailed behind Ulrich, who held a steady lead. The boy picked up speed, careful not to activate Super-Sprint, until he reached the turn to the underpass. He used the opportunity to look back, and saw Sebastian running after him, several meters away. It was now or never. Using the corner to obscure Sebastian's view, Ulrich activated Super-Sprint, running at lightspeed (Or something close to it, ignoring Jeremie's long-winded explanation that Ulrich wasn't exactly traveling at the speed of light) through the underpass. He took the first possible corner, and sped through passageway after passageway, taking detours to reach the exit closest to his true destination…

"Stern!" Sebastian called.

No reply except for some echoes that soon faded away…

"Stern!"

Still nothing.

"Damn it." Sebastian muttered to himself. He took a quick check of their rooms…but there was no-one else there. Sebastian had to face facts: Ulrich had gotten away…which meant that…

"Ugh…" Sebastian groaned as he returned to the entrance of the underpass and pulled out his cell phone.

" _Hello?"_ Milly replied.

"You at the park yet, Solovieff?" Sebastian asked.

" _We're just getting some stuff ready, we'll be there as soon as we can!"_

"Same. My 'errand' for the day got cut short. I'll see you soon." Sebastian answered as he hung up, snapping his fingers in frustration…

As for Ulrich, he kept on running until he reached his destination. When he got there, he looked behind his back. It seemed that he had lost Sebastian, and thus he turned his attention to what was now in front of him: Billancourt Park. The park was designed to be similar to a floodable inlet, matching the Seine River a mere 500 or so feet away. The landscape of water, gravel beds, islands and marshes were designed to be a living, adaptable configuration to increase the aesthetic appearance of the park. Ulrich preferred practicing in his spot in the underpass, but even he had to admit that the park had a certain charm to it that made it a decent backup option to practice martial arts. But on a darker note, if it wasn't for the abandoned industrial complex that surrounded it, Ulrich would've been able to see the factory. Those old buildings were separated from the rest of the town by means of chain-link fences and concrete barriers, which, while not enough to keep out wanderers and trespassers, still felt suspicious, as if whoever had designed the district after the Panic knew where to stop after a certain point…

Ulrich then pushed those thoughts out of his head. He was spending too much time listening to Jeremie's constant conspiracy theory analyses if his train of thought was wandering there.

Instead, Ulrich looked down at the end of the park, seeing a fairly isolated area near the back marsh. There were only three people near that area, the first being two dark-skinned boys, one of whom was tall, stocky, and had hair that was black on one side and orange on the other, wearing a camouflage-colored shirt with orange shoulder-pads and grey-green pants, while the second boy was about Ulrich's height and had short, red hair tied in a short knot at the back. He also wore a white t-shirt over brown sleeves, with tan trousers to match. The third person was a girl, who seemed about as old as the second boy and had hair that was crimson at the top and black at the bottom, wearing a gray jacket over a red shirt and grey pants, along with a pair of red goggles.

The group of three seemed wrapped up in whatever they were doing, so Ulrich was certain that none of the present parties would trouble the other.

For the next thirty minutes, that seemed to be the case. Ulrich began his workout, first with warm-up stretches, and eventually began working on his forms. His movements focused on the _Betawi_ style, beginning with the acrobatic and evasive _Cingkrik_ (Because of the inclusion of Odd's…unorthodox fighting style, Ulrich felt the compulsion to practice the style best suited to counter it), and planning to move onto the more offensive _Kwitang_ second before finishing up with the defensive _Beksi_ when taking into account how the Specters seemed to have begun attacking in more strategic formations. He wasn't planning on telling Yumi this yet, but the Specters he had fought in the last attack had done so by attacking from various angles simultaneously, and while the low number had made them easy to deal with, Ulrich wasn't stupid enough to think that their strategy wouldn't have worked if they'd had double the number to guard the tower.

Ulrich had planned for an hour of practicing this style, twenty minutes per form after a ten-minute warm-up. All seemed well, with everyone focused on their personal activities. The group of three near Ulrich bickered at times, something about a robot or whatever, but nothing seemed out of hand and he was able to tune out whatever conversation they were having concerning whatever the girl seemed to be working on.

He had just finished the first form and was catching his breath to prepare for the second, but much to Ulrich's (unpleasant) surprise, he saw a group of people he'd thought he wouldn't be seeing much of today (Though, granted, one of those people was someone he really didn't mind seeing). For who would have entered Billancourt Park but Milly and Tamiya, with Yumi watching over the two young reporters like a hawk.

Yumi noticed Ulrich first, but quickly re-focused her attention. They were too far away for much of anything to happen, and Ulrich had sent Yumi a text about Odd's vision concerning Sebastian shortly after gym had ended…a thought that was alarming to the black-haired girl as she suddenly remembered just _who_ she and the reporters had been asked to meet.

Yumi quickly turned Milly and Tamiya towards the opposite end of the park for where they would wait for Sebastian. She didn't doubt for a second that the lanky student was going to make his move concerning Xanadu. Sunday really couldn't come fast enough.

Thankfully, Milly seemed too focused and excited for the 'scoop' to notice Yumi's misdirection and Tamiya was too busy keeping track of the snacks they'd brought along to keep themselves energized.

"Ohhhhh!" Milly squealed. "I'm so excited for this! This'll be the best scoop we've ever done Tamiya!"

"Let's just hope Sebastian gives us the information we need." Tamiya replied. "Otherwise this whole mission will have been for nothing."

"He should be here soon…" Yumi muttered, scanning the park for any signs of the 'Street Kid'.

Ulrich was oblivious to this development. He took a deep breath, amidst the growling of the girl not too far away from what was apparently 'another failure!' and prepared to enter _Kwitang_ when he saw the person whom he'd hoped to avoid.

Sebastian Toup.

Ulrich's brain broke. Why was Sebastian here? Did he somehow catch where Ulrich was? Did he plant a tracking device onto Ulrich somehow? Or did he ask around to find him?

Sebastian, in truth, had done none of these things, for his only thought was looking for the three girls. He had even brought along his pack, figuring that he would need it. Had he turned to his left, Sebastian would've found the girls first and Ulrich would've been able to slip away. But Sebastian's head first turned to his right, and his eyes immediately locked onto Ulrich.

"…So, this is where Stern got to…" Sebastian mumbled to himself. He looked around and saw the paparazzi and their bodyguard, but they didn't seem to have spotted him yet. Good. Perhaps now he could get some answers, and then…

"Yo, Sebastian, we're over here!" Yumi called, waving her arm and bringing the lanky boy to the attention of the cub reporters.

Sebastian couldn't help but feel his left eye twitch in annoyance. Another interrogation attempt down the drain. Well, at least for now. Sebastian didn't plan to let Ulrich out of his sight this time. As he walked over to the three girls, he kept the brown-haired boy in the corner of his eye, and when he reached them, he immediately put himself in a position that would let him keep a close eye on Stern, with his view only blocked by Ishiyama, who seemed to have caught onto what he was planning.

Well, nothing for it. She was a part of this as well but being near two blabbermouths made interrogating Yumi a difficult task.

So, Sebastian prepared to give the advice Solovieff wanted. "Alright, do we have everything in order?"

Tamiya checked the supplies once more. "Yup, we have everything!"

"Good, good…" Sebastian nodded in approval. "Alright, so…you want to go find the lemonade dealers…but you've got no idea where to go."

Milly looked bashful. "Tamiya and I, uh, well, we…never really went past our territory." She admitted.

Sebastian rubbed his forehead as he took off his pack and pulled out a map. Yumi saw that the map had marked the routes and had a few notes scribbled here and there. She immediately snapped to attention as she looked at the guide route.

"Before I continue, did any of you bring a map?" he asked.

"Oh!" Tamiya remembered, pulling out another map of the suburbs. "We got it so we could help guide Yumi around!"

"Even though we never found the time to really use it." Milly huffed, to which Yumi simply pat the younger girl on her head.

"That makes my job easier." Sebastian said. "I _could_ just use my phone's Earth app…but it never hurts to have a physical map lying around. Plus, it's bigger." He then set the map on the ground. "You three paying attention?"

The three girls nodded, with Tamiya pulling out a pen. Sebastian nodded back in approval and gestured for Tamiya to hand him her map. The dark-skinned girl did so, and Sebastian set it against his own. He pulled out a marker and immediately drew three circles around a set of three locations he marked. Next, he looked back to his map, and drew one large circle to surround the first three, before drawing a double-layer circle around that. Finally, Sebastian pulled out his phone, and muttered to himself as he marked a few more areas within the double-circle layer in red ink, while marking an area just before that layer in blue ink. He then gestured for the girls to sit down. Milly and Tamiya did so cross-legged, but Yumi remained standing.

"Alright," Sebastian began, "you see what I've drawn here?"

"Yes." Yumi nodded. "What's with this area?"

"This is the rough area of what I call the 'safe zone'." Sebastian replied, pointing to the three inner circles. "This is generally 'our' territory, where Kadic, Asimov, and Hellison students tend to hang around along with some of the public schools. You'll notice that I've marked where all three schools are to give you three a general idea of how the border plays out."

Milly and Tamiya looked over their map, both now focusing. Of course, it wasn't long before the obvious question popped up. "What's with the other circles?"

"Something of a more…questionable jurisdiction." Sebastian answered. "Obviously, people aren't going to strictly obey an unwritten border, so I need a margin of error of sorts. The double-circles are there to mark it, since not everyone from inside or outside that territory is going to obey it. That being said, this area is something of a grey area, so stay away from the places I've marked in red." Sebastian looked at Milly and Tamiya, eyes dead serious. "It's where you'll find the kind of people that don't show mercy to kids…especially since some of us can fight back."

Yumi took notice of the warning tone in Sebastian's face, and her defensive instincts immediately kicked in. She zeroed in on the map, paying close attention to the marked areas, which were completely shaded in.

"Outside of this last layer is where things get harry and you have to be careful. As long as you girls don't go prying, you'll be safe, so don't do _any_ asking whatsoever unless you know someone from there."

"…And since none of us know anyone from there…" Yumi growled.

"You shouldn't do any asking." Sebastian finished. "Keep far away, don't go near it, and we'll all be better off for it."

A thought then struck Yumi's head, as she input the name of Blue Screen Skate Park into Maps…and recoiled as she saw that its address was nowhere near the area Sebastian had highlighted.

"Then why did you send Odd off to Blue Screen Skate Park?" Yumi asked indignantly. "You didn't send Odd to get killed by that, 'Black Knight' person or whatever, did you?"

"Well, if Della Robbia ends up being a shameless flirt and gets on Knight's bad side, then he fully deserves his inevitable death." Sebastian shrugged. "But Della Robbia asked for something completely different compared to right now. It's an unspoken rule in all territories to keep whatever happens there a relative secret. He just wanted to know where to find a skate park." He then looked at Milly and Tamiya, who gulped as he did so. "He didn't ask for anyone to do any snitching."

"It's not snitching!" Milly defended. "We're reporting!"

"Let's agree to disagree, okay?" The Street Kid said, folding his arms. "This is exactly why you're going to stay _in_ the territory I marked. Food-stuff, game dealing and the like aren't exactly high up on the totem pole of contraband, so you should be relatively safe 'reporting' on it…so long as you make the proper deal. Because I know for a fact that Delmas would _not_ be happy learning about any of our activities, major or minor. Of all the private Billancourt principals, he's the most likely to lead an attempt to shut us down for good. From what I've heard from my contacts at Asimov and Hellison, Principal Graven and Principal Archarya don't seem to care that much…hell, apparently Archarya considers it 'life experience' or something like that if what Wei told me is true, but if Delmas gets word, then he's going to put a lot of egg on their faces and they'll have to support him on whatever crusade he gets on."

He then locked eyes with Milly and Tamiya. "You two are going to have to be very careful about what you're doing today. Delmas is one of the main reasons we've had to keep our secrecy and a lot of people know this. Be very careful about who you approach and how you're going to write your little article without drawing too much of his attention. Paperwork will only keep him at bay for so long, after all."

The park was quiet, aside from the angry yelling of the red-topped girl, which gave Sebastian an opportunity to check the park's end for himself. Ulrich was still there, practicing his forms, probably trying to stay natural or something…even though it was more likely because Sebastian saw Molly Wei herself testing one of her robots, which was comically malfunctioning, and as it did so, Molly and her group were blocking off Ulrich's escape routes as they ran about trying to catch the machine.

"And trust me, Wei over there would _not_ be happy getting a curfew over lemonade." Sebastian explained further, pointing his thumb at the girl. "But even with that in mind, I can assure you two that whatever kind of revenge she would plan would be _nothing_ compared to whatever the entire district would concoct."

Milly and Tamiya's eyes widened as they looked at Molly, who kept on stomping her feet as her robot seemed to refuse her commands. For a moment, they both swore that they could see fangs in her mouth as the two boys around her tried to calm her down. Tamiya gulped seeing Molly's very visible irritation and anger.

"…Yeah, that would be…bad." Yumi muttered darkly as she looked at the scene, though she found no real malice in Molly's temper tantrum (though she was irritated that the girl and her group were blocking off Ulrich's escape route). She was no stranger to twisted plots being done to people for simple and petty reasons and already she was getting 'bad idea' vibes from Milly's intended scoop. "Maybe we should scrap this."

"What?" Milly gasped, standing up. "B-but our scoop!"

"It wouldn't be worth getting yourself killed over something like lemonade Milly." Yumi warned. "I've seen people do terrible things to each other just because they wanted to, or because they had some demented idea that the person deserved it for some weird, stupid reason. If reporting on something as simple as lemonade is going to risk getting you and Tamiya killed, I don't think you should do it."

"But we were planning for this all day yesterday!" Milly whined. "C'mon Sebastian, you've got to have something we could use!"

"…Do you at least have any advice for deals?" Tamiya asked nervously, in no hurry to be subjected to terrible street punishment, but not willing to lose an actual story.

Sebastian remained calm as he stood up and picked up Tamiya's map. "That's why I specifically marked this area." He answered, finger pointed at the perimeter he'd drawn. "It's your best bet of making a proper deal for your article without you getting killed or anyone getting pissed over their operations being shut down. You should be able to find a dealer you can reason with. I'd recommend Burrel. He goes to Kadic like we do, and he generally has a good idea of what every group needs and uses."

"Okay, so…a compromise then." Tamiya said. "We find a kid who goes to our school, work out a deal with him, get our scoop without getting Delmas mad at us, and don't get killed or-"

"GAH!" the voice of the muscled boy screamed in pain, causing the four to look at the boy, who was holding his hand, which seemed to be dripping blood from the palm. "Why did you make the arms of that robot so damn sharp, Molly?"

"I did for grip!" Molly protested. "Not my fault you grabbed the Arrow by the arms, Jordan!"

"…Maimed by robots." Tamiya finished in light of seeing a small sample of Molly's chaos.

"…I do not look forward to the district competition…" Sebastian muttered. "Either Belpois will kill us all in science-driven glee or Wei will kill us all with that temper of hers."

Milly and Tamiya nodded to themselves, while Yumi couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"So…are we a go?" Milly asked.

"We're a go." Tamiya nodded resolutely.

"Yumi?" Milly asked, eyes gleaming like a sad puppy.

Yumi sighed and looked at Sebastian. "You're sure this Burrel person will help us out?"

"Good time to point out that his first name is Matthias, but yeah, he's a reasonable person." Sebastian reassured. "I can even mark down a route to where he usually hangs out that should give you three as little trouble as possible."

"All right." Yumi nodded, before she looked down at Milly and Tamiya. "But we stay on that route, okay? I don't want to have to go looking for you two and I don't want us to find something or someone we can't handle."

"Yes ma'am!" the two girls said simultaneously.

Sebastian nodded, and pulled out his marker. "Now then, for the route…"

And then the park, which had been in tranquil quiet, erupted into a loud cacophony as the sound of synthesized music, played from phones and boom-boxes in perfect synchronization, began to ring in the air.

"ARGH!" Yumi grimaced from the loud, piercing noise, immediately thinking that it was a Xanadu attack.

"What's that awful noise?" Tamiya asked, covering her ears.

Sebastian's eyes had widened in fear and dread. He looked and saw that Ulrich was still in the park, grimacing in a manner very similar to Yumi (then again, all of the park patrons were). Sebastian then looked at the black-haired girl, a feral look of panic in his eyes. "Oh no…No, no, nooo…" He muttered in horror as he turned to the park entrance.

"You know what's going on?" Yumi asked as the park entrance was crowded and a large number of girls began to march into the park, revealing themselves as the source of the noise.

The girls were all fairly close in age, give or take one or two years. Yumi suspected that the oldest was perhaps a year older than her. All of them were dressed in a manner that seemed as they were attending some kind of back-alley street party, race, or some kind of rave, wearing clothing that _somewhat_ reminded Yumi of her own black clothes, albeit still having a bit more color to compliment the black, though she noticed an exception through a solitary boy whom was part of the crowd wearing clothes that were colored neon. There were smaller details here and there in this group, such as a tattoo here, or a piercing there, that made them all seem that much more provocative and gang-like.

"Him…HE'S here!" Sebastian groaned. "Why? Why today of all days? And with that...gaggle to boot? He's disgusting and obnoxious enough on his own, we don't need his entire damn harem!"

"Sebastian, who's 'he'?" Yumi growled, not in the mood for riddles after the presentation Sebastian had given.

The crowd fanned out in two lines, as if they were clearing the way for someone. Some of the girls began cooing or swooning, along with the solitary boy. Others kept up the music, and began moving further into the park, causing the patrons to start backing away as they focused on the din and racket that had formed. Two boys in particular who had been playing a card game of some kind immediately vacated the premises, as if knowing what kind of unholy legion of darkness had descended upon them.

"Sebastian…" Yumi warned, cracking her knuckles to accentuate the point.

"…William Dunbar…" Sebastian finally answered, mouth agape in dread.

Yumi looked at the park entrance and saw a boy who was slightly taller than her walk into the park with an assured swing in his step. His hair was black and scruffy, and he wore a black t-shirt over a longer-sleeved red shirt. He wore a pair of simple light-blue jeans and a pair of brown boots. His face was self-congratulating, and he seemed to bask in whatever honors he was being given by the group of girls. Yumi admitted that while he seemed quite handsome…his _demeanor_ was another matter, being a poor mix of smug and euphoric, and she immediately felt a great deal of revulsion at the scene unfolding before her.

"We love you William!" several girls wearing short pink tops that exposed their navels, and short red skirts that nearly exposed cried in unison, jumping in joy.

"I want today to be perfect!" another cheered as she brought her hands to her face in an orgasmic expression.

"My hand is doing this, care to be a part of it?" the boy offered, making a lewd pumping gesture towards his mouth.

William did not verbally reply to any of these, but he merely shot a look of knowing, as if everyone present already knew the answer. Yumi had a very bad feeling that the replies would all be some kind of affirmative.

Ulrich, from where he was, looked at the scene with utter disgust. _This_ guy was the shameless flirt Sebastian had dreaded him to meet? Well, he was right to dread a meeting. Ulrich immediately wanted to punch William in the face for the disgusting scene he had created. He didn't doubt for a second what this guy would do the instant he met up with Yumi, and he began to walk slowly towards William's group in order to get in a better position to intercept him. Thankfully, the group of kids who had been having trouble with their robot had stopped running around like they were in a war-zone and had a look of disgust on their faces as well, granting Ulrich the opportunity he needed to start moving again.

"Crass and of poor taste." The red-haired boy muttered in revulsion as he finished bandaging Jordan's right palm, having brought a first-aid kit in advance. "I still can't fathom what those people see in that boy…"

"They're just an annoying clique." Jordan grimaced as he tried to flex his hand. "Let's just try to ignore them."

"…This is why I'm glad Dad enrolled me in Hellison…" Molly grumbled as she knelt down to focus on her robot. "I wouldn't be caught dead in a gang like that if all we're going to do is just fawn over some dork."

"...And if said, uh, 'dork', was not a factor?" The red-haired boy could not help but ask, a hint of fear in his voice.

Molly did not answer, her face remaining perfectly neutral, leaving both of her male companions to stare nervously at each other, before they shook out the nightmarish image of Molly leading an army of female delinquents and conquering all of the territory surrounding the three boarding schools of Boulogne Billancourt.

Ulrich remained silent throughout the commentary, preferring to focus on what kind of madness was about to ensue. He kept to the side, making sure that he'd be able to intervene in case things turned ugly…or rather, _when_ things turned ugly. While he snuck over to Yumi's location, several girls broke out of the procession and began to run ahead into the park, harassing patrons in a clear attempt to get them to leave, acting very much like the gangsters they seemed to dress as. One of these girls, a long-haired blonde with heavy make-up, short black-blue shirt and mid-length green skirt, sauntered up to Yumi's group.

"Alright, you lot," she declared, clapping her hands to get their attention, "time to stop whatever you're doing and clear the park! We have a party scheduled here and we don't need you interrupting us!"

"As much as I'd like to do that Heringsdötir," Sebastian grumbled, "we were kind of finishing something up first, so just give us a few minutes to plan this out."

"Yeah!" Milly said, standing up as straight as she could to look at the taller girl in the face. "We were here first!"

The girl laughed haughtily. "Whatever is that you're doing is irrelevant! What _we're_ doing is much more important!"

"You mean worshiping that moron driven by hormones and low standards?" Yumi asked dryly, pointing at William, who was still waving to his…mates, for lack of a better word. The blonde girl's laughter stopped right then and there, while Sebastian couldn't help but let out a loud snort of amusement. Ulrich, who was eavesdropping, couldn't suppress a smirk.

The blonde's eyes widened. "You did NOT just call William Dunbar a moron!" Heringsdötir shrieked...which caused everyone's heads to turn towards the noise.

"Wait, someone finally said it to the guy out loud?" Molly whistled loudly in approval, causing some eyes to turn to her and her cheeky grin, but the majority were focused on Yumi and her cold, emotionless glare.

William was snapped out of his stupor to look over at where the noise had come from, and his eyes lit up with interest, ears disregarding the statement that had been yelled out. After all, the tall girl with the short, but bewitching black hair, exposed midriff, and completely black clothing was what held his attention. Quickly, he strode over to where the girl was, eyebrows arched with intrigue.

"Brynja, Brynja…" William admonished. "Let's keep things quiet, okay?"

"But, the nerve of this-!" Brynja began, but William put a finger up to her mouth before she could blurt out the swear word.

"Let's keep things civil, alright?" William asked, and he slicked his hair back to take a better look at Yumi, who could not help but back away as William came near, using the few inches in height advantage to look her over. "I don't think we've been introduced, ah…"

"Yumi." The black-hair girl said curtly.

"Yumi…" William repeated, savoring the name. "It's nice to meet you."

"Can't exactly say the same for myself." Yumi grumbled.

Ulrich was enraged, trying to step forward to give William what was coming to him, but Sebastian had already noticed the boy drawing near, and broke off from the group to hold the martial artist back. "Not now, Stern!" he hissed. "We're outnumbered!"

"You may not think that right now, but trust me, knowing me is an…experience." William said flirtatiously. "I'd be honored if you could stay here with us. You look like you'd fit in fine with everyone."

"Forget about it." Yumi spat in disgust. "I'd rather have a guest arrive than stay here."

"Oh, come on," William continued, moving forward and backing Yumi into a tree, "You could be our guest. After all, I can have my mates here…teach you a few things…"

"Ew!" Milly spat before Yumi could snap another retort, while Tamiya looked at William with an expression of utter disgust on her face.

The moment William turned his attention to the reporters, his smile turned into a judgmental frown. He looked down on them with disdain. "What? Do you two twerps think you can stay here?"

"They most certainly cannot!" Brynja huffed. "I can accept a girl with her style and body-type becoming one of us, but these two are small, insignificant whelps that deserve no such honor!"

"At least they're trying to do something with their lives instead of spending their time oogling some playboy!" Yumi snapped.

"Yeah!" Milly and Tamiya nodded.

"What? These two?" Brynja snorted. "They're just tiny, stupid little girls more concerned with transient garbage rather than… _people_ of substance," saying the word 'people' in an overly silky and sultry tone. "You'd rather support them on some stupid childish quest or whatever it is that they're doing rather than engage with those who have taste?"

Sebastian snorted at the irony of the statement whereas Ulrich seemed to be debating on whether to beat up William or Brynja first. Yumi however, kept her hands at her side, and silently floated her prayer beads to her right hand, gripped them, and took a deep breath to calm herself. With that done, she simply sighed, ducked under William's arms to get away from him, and grabbed Milly and Tamiya by the arms, turning to leave the park.

However, she did have one more piece to say. "Milly and Tamiya at least aspire to become journalists, a job where they get to reveal all kinds of stories to the world, and help others understand the struggles everyone around them faces. You, on the other hand, just want to be a cum dumpster, which any low-ranking bitch can do."

"I beg your pardon?!" Brynja shrieked at the crude description of herself, while Sebastian and Molly burst out laughing, with Jordan and Ulrich tempted to do the same as they held back laughter, Ulrich barely choking his while Jordan put a hand to his mouth. Milly put her hands up to her cheeks, surprised at Yumi saying something so coarse, while Tamiya's eyes just widened in shock.

Yumi wasn't quite done either, leveling her eyes at the rest of William's harem. "And honestly, if everyone in this 'group' wants to become something that pathetic, then you're not even worth our time, so get the fuck out of our way so we can go back to doing something productive."

Brynja was outraged at this proclamation. Likewise, so was everyone else who had gathered. Yumi gestured with her eyes for her friends to follow her and started to depart. Milly and Tamiya quickly followed, looking at Yumi in awe. Sebastian, who also impressed, concluded the group as they vacated the premises. Several members of William's harem flipped off Yumi as she walked away, but the Japanese girl ignored them. Soon, the four were out of the park, and gathered at the other end of the street to conclude their business.

"So, Sebastian, what's the route?" Yumi asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Ah, yes." Sebastian nodded, immediately pulling out the map and drawing the route out. "Go this way. It should take you around 20 minutes to find Burrel. I'll call him and tell him you're coming. Oh, and Ishiyama, that was awesome."

Yumi gave a small smirk of satisfaction. "I know."

"Scoop, here we come!" Milly declared, pumping her fist into the air, new determination evident in her voice.

Yumi and Tamiya nodded, and the three set off with purpose.

Sebastian watched as they rounded a corner and snuck back over to the park entrance to check to see if Ulrich had already left. Surprisingly, Ulrich hadn't fully escaped, since he was having to deal with some of the more tenacious members of William's harem harassing him. The Hellison trio were ahead of him by a few paces. Molly was flanked by Aikka and Jordan, and all three were covered in dirt and scratches, though the Street Kid could tell that those injuries had not come from fighting William's worshipers.

"Ugh, I can't tell if I'm grateful or pissed that William's harem showed up." Jordan complained as he continued to flex his bandaged hand.

"I'm pissed." Molly grumbled. "The robotics competition is in a week, and then one of the best testing spots available gets taken up by those airheaded morons! Don't they have anything better to do?"

The three exited the park. Aikka noticed that Sebastian was still at the entrance. "Good afternoon Sebastian. I thought you had left with your classmates."

"As formal as ever, Burak." Sebastian commented. "I've been meaning to ask the guy walking behind you a few things, so I waited for him."

"Oh?" Aikka turned around to see Ulrich was right behind him, and he extended a hand to him. "Ah, I see. Greetings, ah…"

"Ulrich." The boy responded, not accepting the handshake.

"Ulrich, yes, well, Sebastian here apparently desires to speak with you?" Aikka questioned, a bit annoyed at Ulrich's rudeness as Sebastian revealed himself, with a small smirk of triumph.

"Thank you, Burak." Sebastian concluded with a pat on Aikka's back, before he immediately put his left hand around Ulrich's shoulder and started to lead him out of the park. Ulrich felt Sebastian's grip tighten as he searched for a way out. He'd have ordinarily escaped by this time, but complications soon emerged.

The first factor came when the red-black haired girl spoke up. "Yo, Sebastian, I'm going to need help with my robot, I need a new place to test it!"

Jordan and Aikka's faces fell at the thought. Naturally, they did not want to continue subjecting themselves to trials runs for Molly's robot. Although the robot was now close enough for Ulrich to study, he could only provide a vague description of it. It looked like a lowercase 'n' from the top, with a set of wheels at the bottom. The two upper prongs were covered in sharp edges. Ulrich didn't know what they were for, although he suspected they were legally questionable. He also couldn't figure out why one of the prongs had an angry pink rabbit head painted on it.

"I'm going to be busy Sunday, Wei." Sebastian shrugged. "Belpois needs robot help too. The guy wants to get some new parts from the Alleyways and it's his first time there. You've been there before, but he hasn't. You can make it without me anyways."

Molly pouted, which Jordan took as the opportunity to lead her away before she could ask any more questions. "And with that, we'll be on our way, nice talking to you Sebastian." He said quickly, picking up Molly's robot and speed-walking away, Molly following with a frown on her face.

Aikka rolled his eyes, took another glance at Sebastian and Ulrich, and then left without saying another word.

Sebastian waited for them to be out of sight before he turned to Ulrich. "All right Stern, no more running away. I've got questions to ask you, and I want answers."

"There's nothing I have to tell you." Ulrich said.

"You know Stern, for a guy that doesn't talk a lot, you are a really shitty liar." Sebastian growled, grabbing Ulrich by the hem of his shirt and pressing him against the concrete wall. "I know that you, Belpois, and Ishiyama are hiding something along with Della Robbia. You know what it is, don't you? You know what it is that made that teddy bear monster! And probably all the other weird things that have happened in town since! Don't lie to me, you wouldn't be playing Houdini if nothing else was going on!"

It took all of Ulrich's self-restraint to not immediately flatten Sebastian onto the ground due to defensive instinct. He figured it wouldn't take long to do it anyways, but it seemed that the cat was already out of the bag…ignoring the cat that they had brought into their bag of course when they'd had to recruit Odd.

"If you honestly think I'm stupid enough to not notice it, then you've got another thing coming Stern." Sebastian continued, voice slowly descending into panic. "Tell me what kind of voodoo bullshit you came across, why is it here? What's it going to do?"

"…Voodoo?" Ulrich asked, raising an eyebrow. Xanadu was a lot of things, but Jeremie was insistent that it was science and not magic. A week after the first attack from Xanadu, Yumi had likened their powers to magic while Jeremie was in ear-shot, and the young genius had gone on a long rant about the physics and the like that was involved.

"What else would you call it?" Sebastian hissed. "What the hell is causing all of the weird stuff around town? What the hell are you doing with it? And most importantly…why in the hell haven't you told US about this? We nearly got killed by, again, a fucking teddy bear for crying out! We deserve to know what it is that's trying to kill us!"

Ulrich was quiet for what seemed like hours, though it was only thirty seconds. Sebastian's face was a mixture of anger, fear, and a hint of betrayal. Anger from how something beyond his or anyone's control had begun to cause trouble in his and everyone else's life. Fear from not knowing what this phenomenon was, and betrayal from how the only people who did seem to know what was going on were trying to keep it a secret from everyone else for some reason, with all three feeding the other. Ulrich remembered the warnings of the Professor to keep Xanadu a secret…but Ulrich had never been good at listening to authority figures, particularly enigmatic ones he knew next to nothing about who had indiscernible motives. Of course, Jeremie had wanted to maintain secrecy until tomorrow, but it seemed very unlikely that Sebastian was going to be that patient.

Better to get it over with now, or at least give him a heads-up.

Ulrich breathed. "Let go of my shirt and I'll talk. If Jeremie doesn't like moving up the timetable, tough break. Plans change."

"Moving up the timetable?" Sebastian asked, confused. "Wait…what was Belpois planning?"

"He was going to tell you about the 'voodoo' tomorr-" Ulrich began, but he was quickly cut off by an angry screech.

"AAAAAARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sebastian let go of Ulrich, both boys wincing in pain. "Ugh… Heringsdötir…" Sebastian groaned.

Despite everything telling them not to, the two boys investigated the park, seeing the blonde girl pacing around in anger, and everyone else aside from William having dark, angry looks on their faces. Several of them had broken off into groups and were muttering to each other, with some being louder than others. It was a rather worrying sight, to say the least, to see what seemed to be the prelude to a gang war.

"That fish-and-rice bitch is going to pay for that!" Brynja growled.

"She insulted William!"

"She called us all cum dumpsters!"

"Let's teach her a lesson!"

"Ladies, ladies, and also single guy." William called, trying to calm his harem down. "We don't need to do anything like that…I like a girl with spirit. Nice and feisty. After all, several of you were like that once, but now we're all together like we should be in Shangri-La."

"What she did was unforgivable!" Brynja protested. "I say we hunt her down and give her over to some pervert who enjoys her type! I have a pretty good "

"Okay, we don't need to go _that_ far." The lone boy among the girls said. "But I agree that we need to get back at her!"

"Okay, okay!" William clapped, then began waving his hands to calm everyone down. "Look, how about we find her, and bring her back here…for an…actual chat? And anyways, it's all of us versus her, and I have an idea to take full advantage of that."

"What kind of idea?" a voice from the crowd asked.

William motioned over to Brynja to come up and he began to whisper in her ear. Her face first showed bewilderment, then disgust, then intrigue, before she showed grim satisfaction. "I like it." She said. "It's the perfect way to get even with her."

"Well, what's the plan?" the boy asked, now impatient. "We force her to wear Brynja's makeup?" This made Brynja shoot a nasty look at him.

"Spread the word to the others. Brynja." William ordered, just loud for everyone to hear. The blonde girl obeyed, whispering to each person's ear, and they in turn, whispered to their fellows. Ulrich and Sebastian looked on in bewilderment and more than a bit of trepidation as the members of the harem began to fall in place like an army platoon, all of them hearing of William's plan and approving of it…whatever it was.

"You all like it? It's Plan Aphro!" William asked, a sly and sultry grin on his face.

"Ooooh yes." Brynja sneered, rubbing her hands in glee.

"I can't wait for it!" one girl cheered. "I remember when that happened to me!"

"Not my preferred plan," the sole-boy shrugged before smirking, "but I can get behind it in a nice and comfortable position I've had practice for."

William clapped his hands again, snapping the harem to attention. "Are you all ready then?" he asked.

"OH YES!" Everyone cheered. "PLAN APHRO, PLAN APHRO, PLAN APHRO!"

"Then let's get a move on!" William ordered, causing the harem to run out of the park like a pack of wolves, continuing to chant 'Plan Aphro'.

"…Stern, get back." Sebastian whispered, before looking behind him to see that Ulrich had already vanished, kneeling behind a parked car. "Okay, showing initiative here" Sebastian grumbled, running to join Ulrich, who showed no signs of resistance as Sebastian knelt down next to him. The two watched as William's army of lovers spread out into the streets and disappeared into the city.

All was quiet for a few moments as the two tried to comprehend the…interesting (To put it kindly) scene that had just happened. Well, Ulrich was trying to comprehend it. Sebastian had met these people before, which had not been a pleasant meeting, and knew very well of their infamy around town. He then slowly realized just what kind of scheme had been set into motion but decided to get his priorities in order. It seemed that he might have information Ulrich would want, while Ulrich had information that Sebastian would want. An information trade. Quid-pro-quo.

"…What was that?" Ulrich asked.

Sebastian got up and dusted his knees off. "That, Stern, was William Dunbar and his harem in action. I've seen plenty of weird things here in town…but those people are a…special kind of strange, to put it nicely." He then angled his next few words carefully. "I mean, they're only slightly more presentable than an evil occult teddy bear robot. Only slightly though."

"…You're not going to drop that?" Ulrich sighed as he stood up. "Fine. I don't know how much Jeremie's planning to tell you, but the bottom line is, we're in the dark just as much as you and everyone else. Only thing we know what to do is how to fight these things."

"And what are these things?" Sebastian asked.

"Would you believe me if I told you everything?" Ulrich asked. "It's a bit of a wild story."

Sebastian considered it but decided to go for a different angle. "Before we get to that, you said that Belpois was planning to tell me about this. What's he planning to do after that? Sacrifice me in some kind of ancient Aztec ritual?"

Ulrich stared as if Sebastian had declared that the world was flat. "No."

"Just checking, just checking." Sebastian shrugged. "As for what you would tell me…you claim that you're fighting these 'things', or whatever they actually are…is there some kind of risk to doing it?"

"You either kill them or they kill you." Ulrich replied bluntly. "You willing to put your life on the line? Keep the secret?"

Sebastian couldn't help but blink rapidly as he took in this new revelation. Mainly because of how casually Ulrich had revealed the risks of whatever method was used to counter the mysterious force that had created Teddy. All of his instincts were _screaming_ to delve into why Ulrich seemed so non-plussed, but Sebastian instead asked about the second topic Ulrich had brought up.

"Why keep it a secret to begin with?" he countered. "Tell me that, and I'll tell you just what might happen to Ishiyama in the next few hours if we don't get a move-on."

Ulrich's face briefly froze in shock, but the boy quickly regained his composure. On the surface, at least. His reply was rather swift and direct. "One of Jeremie's theories. Some kind of government project that went haywire and he doesn't want us getting experimented on…now what did you say was going to happen to Yumi?"

"…Crazy government project, eh?" Sebastian asked, before putting a hand to his chin in thought. Well, that certainly put in a few new factors to mull over what had already been revealed to him. The boy wondered if he should press Ulrich on for more details…but two things put a stop to it: 1) The fact that he finally had something to work with, and 2) not wanting to delve into an even messier topic…which caused Sebastian to notice that Ulrich was looking rather squirrely, eyes darting to the streets trying to find Yumi. "…I suppose I'll take that for now. If Belpois wants to explain it in more detail…I suppose I might as well wait."

That just sent more alarm bells ringing through Ulrich's head, and he was starting to regret giving Sebastian the information at all. The other boy's face was scheming, thinking of a plan to deal with Jeremie. Ulrich remembered how he had chastised Odd that morning about nearly revealing the secret while discussing another one of his weird dreams…and yet instead of the loudmouth snitching about it, _Ulrich_ had basically been the one to spill the beans. He silently cursed, looking at Sebastian, who remained quiet, face completely unfathomable as he took the information in.

"Alright, you got what you wanted, now tell me what's going to happen to Yumi?" Ulrich snapped.

Sebastian's face changed from scheming to grim, and he motioned for Ulrich to follow him. "I'll tell you on the way. We don't have any time to waste. Let's just say that Dunbar's harem is planning revenge on Ishiyama…and well…"

"Move!" Ulrich roared the moment 'planning revenge on Ishiyama' registered in his head, stepping forward to the sidewalk, Sebastian trailing behind.

"…Huh, I thought I would have to explain this to you more." The lanky boy observed.

"You said that they're planning revenge on Yumi." Ulrich growled. "That's all the information I need." He pulled out his phone and dialed Yumi's number.

" _Hello? Ulrich?"_ Yumi responded. _"What's going on?"_

"…First off, I had to give a certain someone a little bit of info to get ready for tomorrow." Ulrich admitted. "He caught me when I was trying to leave because of that stupid harem."

"… _I see…how much did you get?"_ Yumi asked.

For a moment, Ulrich was puzzled by Yumi's cryptic response, but then he remembered that Milly and Tamiya were present on the other end of the line. They really could _not_ afford another information slip, especially with those two. So, Ulrich played along. "Enough that I'm ready for tomorrow, still need more for it though."

"… _Hmm…"_ Yumi hummed. _"Well…that'll make tomorrow…interesting, I suppose. I'll talk to you later about it."_

"Stern, the phone." Sebastian ordered, extending his hand.

"You're not going to say anything else, are you?" Ulrich whispered, hesitant.

"Relax." Sebastian assured. "I ain't telling Solovieff and Diop about this. That's got 'Bad Idea' written all over it."

" _Ulrich?"_ Yumi asked again.

Ulrich sighed, then brought his phone up. "I'm going to give the phone to Sebastian, he's got a warning for you about that group of… people at the park."

Ulrich handed Sebastian the phone, and the lanky boy was quick on the draw. "Ishiyama, be careful. You got Dunbar's harem-gang on the hunt. They're coming after you. Stern and I will try to hold them off. You follow the route to Burrel and warn him about them the _second_ you get there. He's dealt with them in the past and he knows a way to hide from them until it blows over."

" _Wait, we're being hunted?"_ Milly's voice emerged. _"Why?"_

"Solovieff, Diop, calm down." Sebastian comforted. "Just keep on the route…But to answer the 'why', I think Ishiyama managed to press most of Dunbar's fetish buttons, and he's managed to rope his harem into doing his infamous 'Plan Aphro'."

"… _Do I dare ask what that is?"_ Yumi questioned.

"…How familiar are Diop and Solovieff with the birds and the bees?" Sebastian asked.

"What?" Ulrich asked, more speechless than usual.

"… _Wait…what are they going to do?"_ Tamiya questioned in a quivering voice, as Yumi at this point had put the call on Speaker.

"I saw a recording of it once. Don't ask how or why, not a story I want to share right now. If they're going to do what I think they'll do, they'll capture Ishiyama and take her to some chosen location. They'll do things to her mind and body involving a lot of...well..."

 _"You don't need to explain, I've got a good idea."_ Yumi replied, voice low and angry.

"Ahem...yeah... Well, nobody comes out of it the same. The cops won't do jack-squat because this town is full of even worse shit by comparison. If you think you can survive it Ishiyama, you won't. This is where roughly half of that harem's population comes from."

"… _Somehow I doubt that. If they even try to do that to me, I'll paste them all onto the ground. I've done it to tougher guys than them before."_ Yumi gritted, the sound of her knuckles cracking.

"Those chicks play dirty, Ishiyama." Sebastian warned. "They'll use every trick in the book to take you out…" he then snapped his fingers, remembering certain details. "And on that note, there's a few people you'll have to watch out for specifically in that hormone-driven hive mind. First off, if you see their token male, Watson, just try to keep him at bay. He's one of the smart ones, so he's more dangerous than most of them, but that also means he's the most reasonable one. If you can get him alone, you may be able to cut a deal with him. But don't try that except as a last resort. He's smart, but also insane. Just keep running to Burrel. If you see the blonde girl, Heringsdötir, take her out as soon as possible. That woman is extremely violent and the one who whips those people into shape. Take her out, and it'll be like cutting off the serpent's head. Fail, and I can't guarantee that this will end without bloodshed."

" _Fantastic."_ Yumi grumbled. _"These people are just full of unpleasant surprises."_

"… _Wh-what happens to us then?"_ Milly asked.

"Again, with how violent she is, Heringsdötir's the most likely person to suggest actual physical harm to you two." Sebastian admitted. "But if Dunbar's attention is focused on Ishiyama, you'll probably get off with a few bruises at worst. Stay vigilant though. If they're focused on Ishiyama, don't stick around, just get out of there."

" _B-but we can't leave Yumi behind to get…oh god, I don't even want to say it."_ Tamiya groaned.

" _You two shouldn't get dragged down with me if that happens."_ Yumi said. _"Ulrich, make sure you get Milly and Tamiya somewhere safe if things do get that bad."_

"R-roger." Ulrich nodded.

"Keep on the route that you're on." Sebastian said. "You've got a few minutes head-start. Just go as fast as you can! Forget about what I said earlier, don't think about the deal with Burrel. I'm going to warn him as soon as I'm done here. You need to reach him as soon as possible!"

" _How long do we have until they attack us?"_ Yumi asked. _"We weren't gone that long."_

"I'd say five to six minutes, depending on how long it takes for them to get into position."

" _Anything else?"_

"That's all I've got." Sebastian admitted. "If you end up on the dark side Ishiyama…well…you have my condolences."

"That isn't going to happen." Ulrich said. "I won't let it happen."

" _Then it won't."_ Yumi reassured. _"Good luck."_

"You too." Ulrich said as Sebastian handed the phone back.

During this time, the two boys had made significant progress up the street Yumi had gone up. Now they reached an alleyway, upon which Sebastian tugged at Ulrich's shoulder.

"Through there." He said. "I know a way to monitor that route through this way. We can keep an eye out for Dunbar's crazy idiots that way."

Ulrich looked at Sebastian. There were many thoughts going through his mind right now, and not many of them were positive. Several of these thoughts were aimed at the 'Street Kid' in front of him, while others were aimed towards William Dunbar and his group of insane, hormonal followers. Yet more of them were jumbled up, some morphing into the majority thoughts, and others just being random angry ideas that came to mind. But either way, one thing was sure, a thought that was blazing in his mind, priming his focus and instincts.

Protect Yumi. At all costs.

So, Ulrich remained silent, and followed the Street Kid, who had pulled out his own phone to call Matthias, into the darkness.

* * *

The rest of Odd's journey passed by without any mishaps, accidents, or meetings with crazy people in green sweaters. On the way however, he noticed how, just as the pictures had shown, the sky had changed from a serene pale blue, to a sickly dark yellow, with even thicker clouds in the sky. Odd did finally start to wonder why this was the case…but shrugged it off. If he'd wanted to learn about the sky and its pollution levels, he'd have stuck around with Jeremie.

Kiwi whimpered, clearly not liking how the relatively clean buildings had become as dirty as the factory. Odd stopped at a rather dilapidated bench and pet his dog to calm him down.

"Hey, it's going to be alright Kiwi. Nothing bad is going to happen." Odd said as he looked at where he was.

He had made it to Blue Screen Skate Park. The park itself was situated on an island, very much like how the factory was. In fact, according to the maps, the island, the Ile de Puteaux, was further up the Seine compared to the Ile Seguin. The Ile de Puteaux was also much larger than the Ile Seguin, with Blue Screen Skate Park only making up a small portion of the rather…dark island. Odd wondered why the sky had to be so dark, but he chalked up to pollution. Why it stayed in the vicinity of the island, Odd didn't know, nor did he care to know. His concern was to finally have some time to himself, with no worries about saving the world or being 'trained' in a virtual world filled with evil black death ghosts.

Kiwi stopped whining and looked at his owner with a glare that said, 'If we die because you couldn't keep it in your pants, I will make your afterlife a living hell.'

Grinning, Odd rode over the bridge, and officially crossed into the dark island. As the map had warned, Blue Screen Skate Park had no roads directly leading to it, so Odd had to find the street nearest to a sidewalk and take that route. His route was plagued with all kinds of morbid sights. Graffiti, bums, and…the occasional splatter of blood. Kiwi for his part ran as fast as he could, wanting to get this trip over with as soon as possible. Odd for his part, tried to concentrate on his Future Flash to find the closest route available in the labyrinth of old buildings and overgrown park areas. Finally, he found himself standing before a sidewalk directly leading to his destination.

"Yeesh, they could've built it in a cheerier place." Odd grumbled, trying to overcome a shiver of nervousness.

Kiwi growled at a stray black cat that hissed back at him, causing Odd to jump. The sudden movement startled the two animals, and the cat ran into the parking lot and out of Odd's sight.

"Well, here goes nothing." Odd said, rolling onto the sidewalk.

The sidewalk itself was clear except for yet more graffiti marking it, but the sides of the trail were peppered in rubble and dead plants. Rotting trees atop discarded slabs of concrete and metal, discarded rebar stuck into patches of dirt like grave markers, long stretches of sand and gravel piled high with wood sticking out of them at random points, just to name a few of the…unique sights Odd witnessed on the last leg of his journey.

But finally, without a shade of a doubt Odd reached Blue Screen Skate Park. He was still able to read the sign denoting it as such, even though the words, written in large gunship font, were covered in graffiti that read 'Anyone Will Skate' (With the 'Will' being represented by a picture of an actual will between the orange, green, and pink of the other two words). The park itself was rather impressive, even with the creepy dark yellow sky and all of the graffiti decorating the course. The main feature seemed to be the snake-run bowls that looped all around the area, leading to funboxes, half-pipes, quarter-pipes, and even vert-pipes. There were several towering flights of stairs of varying levels that led to yet more sections of the sprawling park.

Odd whistled. The fact that something this impressive had fewer visitors seemed a crying shame to him. Kiwi on the other hand starting growling, though not because of the skatepark. Odd looked down at the little dog and saw that Kiwi's attention was turned to Odd's back, and the purple-shirted boy looked behind him to see three girls were coming up from behind him.

"Oi, who are you?" one of them asked.

The three were all rather tall and fairly stocky, though only the girl in the center of the incoming group had a board. The girl on the right had orange hair that went down just below her neck, wore a dark blue shirt with a large vertical orange stripe on its left side, along with a blue plaid skirt, black boots, and some kind of fishnet brace on her left arm. The girl on the left looked completely out-of-place in the dreary park. She was blonde, with even longer hair than the first girl, which went down to below her waist, and wore a purple beanie that was adorned with a sunflower. Her outfit consisted of a bright green undershirt with a long orange skirt that completely covered her legs and was adorned with flower-and-cloud patterns, ending with a pair of bright green sandals and a chain of flowers that adorned her neck and several yellow bracelets on both of her arms. Finally, the girl in the center, who had been the one who had spoken, was dark-skinned, and had dark brown hair arranged into cornrows that went down to her neck and were held together by yellow, orange, and green beads. She wore a dark pink tube top, with bright yellow sweatpants, and orange sneakers. None of them looked particularly pleased at Odd's presence.

Of course, Odd was not intimidated. "Name's Odd Della Robbia!" he called, "and I'm here to see what this place has to offer!"

"Really?" the girl with the orange hair asked, raising an eyebrow. "Someone as scrawny as you?"

"I AM NOT SCRAWNY, I AM SVELTE!" Odd roared in protest.

The girl rolled her eyes. "You keep telling yourself and the dog that."

"Rare to see someone have the guts to come here though." The dark-skinned girl smirked. "Haven't you heard of the Black Knight of Asimov?"

"As a matter of fact, I have!" Odd revealed. "Heard all about from Sebastian!"

"Instead of experiencing it?" the blonde asked. "You poor, sad, scrawny little man."

"SVELTE!"

"If that's what you want to believe." The blonde replied calmly.

"I don't need to believe it because it's true!" Odd growled. "Anyways I'm here to challenge Samantha Knight!"

And with that all three girls were rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Challenge Sam?" the orange hair girl laughed.

"Maybe you'll get through the first turn before wiping out!" the blonde laughed.

"I can't-I can't even…" the dark-skinned girl chuckled.

Now Odd was getting annoyed. "I'll have you know that I'm an awesome skater! I can take this place no problem! And I can take on Sam easy-peasy!"

The three girls picked themselves up from the ground, still giggling at the idea. When they stopped, once again, it was the dark-haired girl who spoke up first. "Look, dude, there's a pretty good reason not a lot of people come here, and that's because this is our territory that Sam won by wiping the floor with every rival skateboarder here! You wouldn't last five seconds against her!"

"Well, I'm willing to try!" Odd protested. "Let her come down here, and I'll take her on!"

"Well…" the dark-skinned girl pondered, looking at her two companions, all three deflating as a mundane fact came to mind to destroy their bravado. "She's running late, so…"

"Really?" Odd asked, trying to gain a foothold in the argument.

"Yeah." The blonde girl said, pulling out her phone to reveal a set of text messages.

" _Hey Fleur, don't know if Taluma and Maddy brought their phones, but I've got to stay behind, had to deal with that weirdo Herb and his friend and now I'm being lectured for causing a scene. Hopefully I'll get there, you three have fun!"_

" _Okay, just got off with a warning. I'll be there as soon as I can!"_

"And they did forget their phones." Fleur revealed, causing the other two girls to look sheepish. "Sam should be here soon. Give her about five, ten minutes tops."

"…Huh, I actually met that Herb guy on my way here…" Odd murmured. "He's nuts."

"No arguing here." Orange hair admitted. "Herb's…a special snowflake…but that's being nice. Like, really nice. Really, really, REALLY nice."

"But he's not our priority right now, is he?" the dark-skinned girl asked. "If you wanna take on Sam, how about you test your skills against me?"

Now Odd felt like they were getting somewhere. "Gladly! I'll show you who's scrawny! I'll take you on, uh…"

"Taluma." The girl answered, getting her board ready. "Follow me, I'll show you where we'll start."

"First things first though," Odd reminded her, "got to find a place for Kiwi somewhere."

"I'll take him." Fleur offered. Odd looked hesitant, but ultimately handed the leash to the blonde, who immediately began cooing and petting Kiwi. The dog growled, remembering how rough Charlie had been…but Fleur was gentle with him. Before long, Kiwi was obedient, lying on his back for belly rubs. Fleur gave the ok sign to Odd, who was silently impressed.

Odd followed Taluma through the labyrinth, until they reached a flight of stairs located in the center of the park, which brought them to a bank that led into one of the snake-runs that sloped downward into the lower levels.

"We'll start from here," Taluma explained, pointing at the park, "and then we'll hit the first half-pipe, then onto that handrail, back into the snake-run and onto the first loop, then hit the first fun-box, and turn around at the hip back into the snake-run until we reach the entrance. Fleur and Maddy will be there to keep watch...along with your dog, I guess"

"Good luck Taluma!" Fleur called.

"You got this, girl!" Maddy cheered, holding out Fleur's phone to start recording the event.

Kiwi merely stayed at Fleur's side, barking. Whether or not it was to cheer on his owner was unknown to the two girls however.

Odd took a few minutes to take in the course, before being assaulted with a set of visions…many of which involved him crashing and wiping out, with injuries of varying levels. Closing his eyes in an attempt to focus (and wanting a future where he actually won), Odd saw several points on the track and then…nothing. Opening his eyes and blinking, Odd took another look at the course Taluma had designated and recognized several turns or areas of the track that would've been troublesome otherwise…and probably were still troublesome since he'd obtained no way of navigating through them.

"You got it down yet?" Taluma asked, already on her board. "I'd like to get this party started."

Odd couldn't help but smirk. "Of course, I'm ready! But you know, ladies first!"

Taluma sneered. "As you wish…YAHOO!" And the girl was immediately headed down the track.

Odd blinked, then immediately got back into position and ran for the course. "Raahhh!"

The two were soon blurs moving through the park. Taluma had obtained an early lead, and much to Odd's irritation, was maintaining that lead. The first part of the course was simple, both skateboarders showing no trouble with it. Nor did they show any difficulty when they reached the first half-pipe. Taluma was quicker with her kick-turns than Odd and managed to draw further ahead. By the time they had reached the rail, Odd was trailing further and further behind.

'Damn it!' Odd thought to himself. And Future Flash was now refusing to activate, much to his irritation. The boy pushed forward, right foot slamming into the ground as he picked up speed for the loop.

Momentum picked up, Odd and Taluma rushed through the loop, with Taluma maintaining her current lead…but just as they began the descent, Odd began pushing forward and leaning with his body. He shot down the slope…and began to catch up to Taluma. The two began to head for the fun-box, and it was here that Odd picked up more speed, slowly gaining on Taluma, until he _shot forward. But too fast._

" _Odd! Be careful!" Taluma cried as Odd shot past her and up the ramp to the funbox into the air, losing his balance without anything to steady himself on._

" _AAHHHH!" He cried, falling off his board and slamming into the ground, landing on his neck._

Then he realized what was happening. Gritting his teeth, Odd braked, ending his chance of gaining the lead. However, he had managed to at least gain on Taluma, though the girl still had the lead. The two rode onto the table-top of the box, jumped down the slope, and reached the hip safely. Taluma smirked as she turned around, once again increasing the gap as the two rode over the fun-box once again to enter the final stretch.

It was now or never. Odd grunted as he tried to figure out a way to defeat his opponent, but it seemed hopeless now. He would've had a better chance of beating a Xanadu phantom than defeat Taluma at skateboarding…which was not a paradox Odd Della Robbia was willing to live as! His previous strategy to gain speed by pushing along the ramps was his only chance of gaining the lead on Taluma, but as Future Flash showed, it would've been a bad idea on the sharp turns and steep ramps of Blue Screen Skate Park. He needed a new strategy, or at least a way to manage it…

The world turned orange again.

There was a way to pass her, he could try gaining more momentum from the upper part of the bowl…which would cause him to slam into the edge and wipeout if he screwed it up, and indeed, Odd saw himself fail that crucial moment six times in a row before one success…that was quickly overwhelmed by evidence to the contrary with yet six more failures.

'Focus Odd…focus…' the boy thought to himself. His training in Xanadu had to account for something! Sadly, the only time he had engaged in any motions even remotely similar to this was when Yumi had been throwing boulders at him for training…

" _Owww…." Odd groaned, tail flat on the ground as he lay on his back, exhausted._

" _Man up." Yumi scolded. "You did better this time anyways. You managed to dodge them without freaking out for one."_

" _I'm still not used to moving like this!" Odd protested. "Excuse me for being tired!"_

" _ **You'll adjust, don't worry."**_ _Jeremie said. **"Honestly, you seem to be adapting quicker than you think..."**_

" _After all, you managed to avoid the second boulder I was aiming at you that time." Yumi explained, pointing to a set of trees that had been smashed by the projectiles._

_After Odd's vision of the strange light, Yumi decided that the training session should be moved to a set of trees a fair distance away from the High Tower, so as to prevent further troublesome visions. Unfortunately for Odd, there were many more rocks for Yumi to use, and it didn't help that she'd had Ulrich bring several of them over from the previous training spot. The training had resumed in earnest, with Odd desperately dodging the boulders. He had been forced to retreat into the woods ever so slowly, giving inch by inch until he was backed up near a set of trees. He had just jumped onto one of them to dodge in a manner similar to before…and just like before Odd had had a vision, though instead of an ominous vision of a descending light of what was probably death, Odd instead saw Yumi launch another boulder at him, forcing the cat-boy to lower himself just enough to jump and narrowly avoid the blow as the tree was smashed…_

And it was then that the visions continued. An orange image of Odd, wiping out once again, going too far out…before moving down bit by bit…until he hit a point that was low to pull the move off and get ahead of Taluma. So, he moved up again until another vision of him crashing appeared, and so he moved down, and up, and down…until a set of visions of Odd pulling the move off perfectly appeared before him.

'There!' he thought to himself.

Odd focused his attention, and sped up further, keeping his eyes on the track. The margin of error was narrow, one mistake would end it all. But as Odd pushed forward and turned, he maintained control of his body, balancing himself in the sweet spot. Before Taluma knew it, Odd managed to pull ahead, and with one final push of speed, the two skateboarders shot out of the bowl and to the finish line, neck-and-neck, until…

Kiwi barked as Odd shot by him, with Taluma following one second later.

Fleur and Maddy were stunned, with Fleur dropping Kiwi's leash. Thankfully, the little dog seemed content to remain by her side as Odd and Taluma caught their breath. Taluma looked shocked, staring at Odd in bewilderment. "H-how did you?" she asked.

Odd winked. "Trade secret. Now what do you think of me, girls? I can take on the 'Black Knight' any day of the week!"

"Is that so?" a new voice asked.

Another dark-skinned girl walked up to the park entrance, face brimming with confidence and intrigue. Her hair was slightly longer and fanned out more than Yumi's, but that was what it resembled the most. Two streaks of red draped down her bangs. Her outfit was a simple grey shirt with streaks of dark green in the center to form some kind of outline of a logo, with a red plaid skirt, long black pants, and black shoes. Tucked in her arms was a red-and-orange skateboard.

Odd had many impressions on his mind when he finally saw her. The first and most shallow one was that she was hot. The second was that he had finally found the opponent who had been so hyped up, with a street title and everything (Though he'd only had Sebastian's knowledge on that part, but he figured it was there). The third was that she seemed familiar, even though he couldn't quite put his finger on it as Sam's face suddenly became twisted in despair, the complete opposite of what her face had shown just a few moments before as a pair of unfamiliar arms and wings suddenly draped over her, and an unknown face with an expression of pity rubbed itself against the dark-skinned girl in comfort…

" _You left her alone like this…how cruel."_

Odd backed away, screaming in terror and rubbing his eyes in a desperate attempt to excise the terrible vision from his sight. Sam and Taluma looked at Odd in confusion, while Fleur and Maddy ran up to the three, Kiwi not far behind.

"Um…are you okay?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised.

Odd of course, was most certainly not okay as he tried to push the horrifying images out of his head. His dream from last night, returning in full-force, apparently telling of some kind of strange enigmatic future…which was somehow becoming more ominous with clearer details. Odd tried desperately to shove the dream's events out of his head, forcing them to fade away in a mental fog once again. He would not dwell on it, he would not, and he took a deep breath and looked at Sam square in the face, refusing to let his fear from before show.

"Yeah…yeah…I'm okay." Odd breathed. "Just got reminded of…something I don't want to talk about." He cleared his throat. "So…I'm Odd Della Robbia, and you're?"

"Samantha Knight." The girl replied, folding her arms. "So…you wanted to take me on…are you up for it?"

Odd nodded. "Yeah…I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd Cliffhanger on all fronts!
> 
> The next trial for our characters has begun! Will they survive, or will it be one of those stories where someone suddenly dies?!
> 
> Find out next time!
> 
> Leave a comment if anything about this chapter seemed off...which dovetails nicely into the next question: Which scenes in CL always seemed the most...questionable in your eyes? Keep that answer in mind for later...


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